Rosenfeld Realty Advisors: NATURAL GAS BREAKTHROUGH BY SCRIPPS

OK this might the huge game changing discovery we have been waiting for, some sort of return on the multi-million dollar ($600 million to be exact!) investment that Palm Beach County made in biotechnology with The Scripps Institute in the North part of the County in 2009. A scientist named Roy Periana, who is the head of the Scripps Energy Materials Center in Jupiter, has discovered a more efficient way to make natural gas into fuel. This would lead to lower prices for energy and immediate improvement for the environment with cleaner emissions. Long term, this could have a serious global impact. For starters, in the US this could lead to the abandonment of fossil fuels for natural gas, something we now have more than anyone else in the world thanks to new mining techniques called shale mining. Right now Russia supplies most of Europe with natural gas. With their actions in the Ukraine, Europe is looking for new suppliers of energy especially natural gas. So the potential for this discovery in Florida is truly global and really might lower energy prices, provide cleaner burning fuel and become an export boon for the US. In the US we are already in the process of converting oil based electric utility to natural gas, and it seems like this will continue to increase and is inevitable. But this is not a done deal yet, there is still some work to do. The process to covert natural gas to fuel requires heating to very high temperatures, and building facilities that can do this is expensive. That is 70% of the cost right there, but this new discovery allows for the natural gas to be converted to gas without high temperatures. The next step is for Scripps to create a new company or joint venture with an energy company to continue the studies. The cost of which is estimated at $2 - $3 million per year and would need 3 years. While there is a chance that this could happen here in Florida, there is no guaranty. So we will certainly keep our eyes on this one, as it could be the biggest invention in Florida since IBM discovered the personal computer in Boca Raton in the 70’s. Very exciting stuff, and with so much potential in so many ways.