Natural Gas
http://www.fe.doe.gov/education/energylessons
/gas/index.html
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/natural_gas/info
_glance/natural_gas.html
http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/source
s/non-renewable/naturalgas.html
http://www.api.org/aboutoilgas/natgas/upload/q
uickfacts.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gas
http://energy.ihs.com/News/renewableenergy/2009/eia-slow-fuel-consumption12309.htm
http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/story/chapter08.
html
Overview
Natural gas is a nonrenewable fossil fuel formed deep in
the earth much like oil and coal. It is mostly methane
which is a natural compound that forms when plant and
animal matter decays. It is odorless, colorless, and
tasteless.
It is not gasoline which is made from petroleum.
For most of the history of the petroleum industry, natural
gas was considered a nuisance due to the difficulties of
transporting it. With the development of a pipeline
structure, it now makes up approximately 23 percent of
the energy consumption in the U.S.
Uses
•About 1/3 of all U.S. natural gas usage is to produce
electricity by 3 methods:
•Natural gas is burned in a boiler to produce steam. The
steam turns a
turbine to produce electricity.
•Another method burns the gas in a combustion
turbine.
•Gaining popularity is a technology which burns the
natural gas in a
combustion turbine and the exhaust is used to make
steam to drive a
steam turbine. This “combined cycle” is more efficient
because it uses the
same fuel source twice.
Uses
Continued
– About another 1/3 of natural gas is used in industry as
a heat source to make
products such as steel, glass, paper, and bricks.
– The chemicals in natural gas are used for products
such as petrochemicals,
paints, fertilizer, plastics, medicines and explosives.
– Propane from natural gas is the fuel many of us use
in barbecue grills.
Uses Continued
– There is potential for more use of compressed
natural gas or liquefied natural
gas for our transportation uses as a bridge to
renewable energies.
– More than 62 percent of homes use natural
gas to fuel stoves, furnaces, water
heaters, clothes dryers and other
household appliances.
Natural Gas Use (2007)
http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/sources/non-renewable/naturalgas.html
Natural gas is measured in cubic feet and in Btus (British
thermal unit). One Btu is the amount of natural gas that will
produce enough energy to heat one pound of water by one
degree at normal pressure. One cubic foot of natural gas
contains about 1,027 Btus.
Advantages of Natural Gas
• Natural gas burns cleaner than any other fossil fuel. It burns
about half the amount of carbon dioxide as the equivalent
amount of coal.
• Natural gas is easily transported to end users in pipelines.
• It’s a dependable energy source not dependent on weather
conditions.
• Most natural gas we use is domestic.
• Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas stored at
temperatures low enough to change it from vapor to liquid
form which makes it possible to deliver natural gas by tanker.
In 2008, the United States imported 0.4 tcf (trillion cubic feet)
of LNG.
Disadvantages
• Natural gas is nonrenewable so there is a limited amount.
• Natural gas can be toxic and if breathed for a long time can be
fatal because it takes away your supply of oxygen.
• A natural gas leak in an enclosed space is potentially
hazardous because it removes the oxygen. It must have
mercaptan added so that it will smell to warn people of a gas
leak. It is highly combustible so precautions are imperative.
Disadvantages Continued
• Natural gas must be transported through pipelines which
require installation and maintenance.
Technical
Considerations
• Drilling for natural gas is
just like drilling for oil. It can
be found in pockets with oil
or by itself.
http://www.ourpubliclands.org/files/upload/oil-drilling-well-CADeptConservation.jpg
Technical Considerations Continued
• The natural gas industry is depending more and more on
unconventional wells which are harder to produce than
conventional wells.
• It is estimated that natural gas resource estimates increased
39% from 2006-2008 due to advances in exploration, well
drilling, and completion technologies.
• One of the newest developments in natural gas production is
the ability to extract gas from shale using horizontal drilling.
– Although most natural gas is found in remote areas, the
largest natural gas shale play in the U.S. is the Barnett
Shale under the city of Fort Worth, Texas.
Technical Considerations
Continued
• Natural gas called coal bed methane is found in seams of coal.
• It is also created in landfills as the garbage decays. Gas from
coal beds and landfills accounts for almost 10% of the total
gas supply.
• After coming out of the ground it is cleaned in a processing
plant of impurities and separated into various gases – 90%
methane, and the rest mostly propane and butane.
Economic Considerations
• The U.S. produces about 25% of the world’s natural gas and is
second in consumption after Russia.
• Natural gas is produced in 32 states; the top 5 are Texas,
Wyoming, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Louisiana.
• Pipelines must be used to transport the gas from the ground
to the plants and then to homes and businesses. There are
approximately 300,000 miles of pipelines in the U.S.
• Like most energy sources, the cost of natural gas is affected
by supply and demand. Weather plays a role in the cost of
natural gas because in the winter when the demand is high,
the cost goes up.
Environmental Considerations
• Natural gas produces less carbon dioxide then other fossil
fuels because its composition is so simple.
• When burned it produces less smog and sludge then coal.
• Increased use of natural gas as a source of transportation fuel
will reduce pollution.
Legal/Regulatory Considerations
Regulations
Under the current regulatory environment, only pipelines and
local distribution companies (LDCs) are directly regulated with
respect to the services they provide. Natural gas producers
and marketers are not directly regulated. This competition
and market based prices in the natural gas industry has
allowed increased efficiency and technological improvements.
Anticipated Status
Natural gas will be the transition energy from nonrenewables
to renewables. The current Annual Energy Outlook predicts a
dip in demand from 2009 – 2010 until 2023 – 2024, then
demand for natural gas will continue to grow.
• Most new electric power plants will be fueled by natural gas to be used more to meet peak electricity generation demands
as a base load source to phase out coal by 2040.
• Huge quantities of natural gas exist in the form of methane
hydrates offshore and on land in arctic regions (hydrates
require a combination of high pressure and low temperature
to form). However, as of 2009 no technology has been
developed to produce natural gas economically from
hydrates. It is estimated that the production of methane
hydrates could double the source of natural gas in the U.S.
•
Anticipated Status Continued
• The use of natural gas in fuel cells holds great potential to
produce electricity.
The process of an electrochemical reaction in a fuel cell as
opposed to combustion of fossil fuels holds promise to be a
clean and efficient electricity producing method.
Summary
• Natural gas has been basic to U.S. energy usage and
contributed to the growth of the U.S. economy. It will
continue to increase in production and use due to its lower
pollution output than other fossil fuels. Its domestic
availability makes it a vital player in reducing our reliance on
foreign fuels.
• Future improvements in the natural gas industry include:
 Increased use for electricity generation
 Production from shale
 Use as a transportation fuel
 Transporting made easier by LNG
 R&D in methane hydrates