These days, people are looking at the word “Trillion” and brushing it off like it’s something you pull out of an ATM. The number has definitely lost its meaning. We have seen it while making this film. It used to be that a “Billion” was a huge number. That’s why we thought people would be absolutely flummoxed by the idea that gas find we cover in the film could total 230 trillion cubic feet. Instead, people look at the number and figure it’s only 23 times what the government is putting into the current bailout package.
The truth is, a “Trillion” is a lot. The Haynesville Shale reserves of 230 trillion cubic feet in itself can take over the entire U.S. electrical grid and run it for a significant amount of time. So what does a “trillion” mean? Chris Lyon (the editor of Haynesville) found this cool, really illustrative video on Mint.com. Check it out.