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By: Sarah Presley, Justin Slaght, and Julia Nahrstedt

NATURAL GAS

+What is Natural Gas?

Natural gas is a fuel that’s used to heat buildings, cook food, dry clothes, heat water, and even to help produce electricity.

It is sometimes called “gas” for short but don’t confuse it with gasoline that you put in your car.

It is a mixture of gases that formed from the fossil remains of plant and animals buried deep in the earth.

+Methane- The Main Ingredient In Natural Gas

It is colorless and odorless

To make the gas smell the gas company adds a chemical called mercaptan which gives the gas a rotten egg smell.

Accounts for 16% of all greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activities.

It is a highly flammable substance.

http://www.adventuresinenergy.org/What-are-Oil-and-Natural-Gas/index.html

+Pipelines

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/national-geographic-channel/specials-1/science-technology/ngc-super-pipeline/

Carries the natural gas to your home from under the ground

They are buried underground so that incase of an explosion it would not hurt anyone.

There are approximately 2.5 million miles of pipelines in the United States.

+Countries that do not use Natural Gas

Some of the countries that do not use natural gas are Botswana, Chad, Greenland, Fiji, Costa Rica, and Central Africa.

The reason they do not use natural gas is because no pipelines have been built to transport gas there.

They are isolated, poor countries who do not have the access to the technology that we do.

+Advantages of Natural Gas

Natural gas burns more cleanly than the other fossil fuels

It is easily transported via pipelines and fairly easily using boats, both on land and on sea.

It can be used as a fuel for vehicles (cars, trucks and jet engines) where it is cleaner than gasoline or diesel.

Does not give off smoke so it can be used in homes.

Can be safely stored and burned

It is less expensive then gasoline, therefore cost-effective.

+Cost of natural gas

The price of natural gas has dropped by 2.5%.

The average is 12 to 14 dollars per thousand cubic feet.

This cost covers the gas itself and the cost of bringing it into your house through the pipelines.

About 25% of energy used in the United States came from natural gas in 2010. The United States used 24.64 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas in 2010.

Natural gas is used throughout the United States, but the top natural gas consuming States in 2010 were:

Texas

California

LouisianaNew

YorkFloridaIllinois

+Disadvantages of Natural Gas

Must be made in highly managed places

Creating the pipelines that carry the natural gas are very expensive

When you extract natural gas from the earth it leaves huge craters.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/natural-gas-drilling-healthy-10905550

+More Disadvantages of Natural Gas

By itself natural gas is mostly methane, which is 21 times more dangerous for greenhouse warming than carbon dioxide so any leakage of the gas (from animals, landfills, melting tundra, etc) contributes strongly to greenhouse emissions.

It is a non-renewable resource so once its gone it will be gone for good.

Natural gas is also highly explosive .

+Gathering and creating natural gas When chilled to very cold temperatures, approximately

-260°F, natural gas changes into a liquid and can be stored in this form.

It is found under the earth and the only way to get it out is to drill it.

Natural gas is often stored underground inside depleted gas reservoirs from previous gas wells, salt domes, or in tanks as liquefied natural gas. The gas is injected in a time of low demand and extracted when demand picks up

+Where natural gas is found

Mainly found in the United States and RussiaAs of 2008 there were 9.6 million natural gas voiceless worldwide, led by Pakistan (2.0 million), Argentina (1.7 million), Brazil (1.6 million), Iran (1.0 million), and India (650,000).New pipelines are planned or under construction in Eastern Europe, Northern Africa and Western Europe.Texas (30%) Wyoming (10%)Federal Offshore Gulf of Mexico (10%) Louisiana (10%) Oklahoma (8%)

+Fun facts

It can be transformed into pure hydrogen by a process called steam reforming.

Lighter than air and non toxic.

There are more than one million miles of underground gas pipelines across the United States.

Natural gas can be used in a device called a fuel cell to produce electricity, much like a battery does.

+More facts on Natural Gas

Natural gas is a generally clean burning fuel. It does not produce as much carbon dioxide or air pollution its.

The only waste products it gives off is carbon dioxide and water.

Natural gas has a major defect, because it can start wildfires.

Meets about ¼ of North America’s energy needs.

The hydrogen that natural gas gives off is used to make fertilizers and refining oil.

+Bibliography

"What Is Natural Gas?" Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Web. 08 Mar. 2012. <http://www.pge.com/microsite/safety_esw_ngsw/ngsw/basics/whatis.html>.

"NaturalGas.org." NaturalGas.org. Web. 08 Mar. 2012. http://www.naturalgas.org/

"Fossil Fuel." » The Disadvantages of Natural Gas. Web. 08 Mar. 2012. <http://fossil-fuel.co.uk/natural-gas/the-disadvantages-of-natural-gas>.

Facts About Natural Gas. Web. 08 Mar. 2012. <http://www.mxenergy.com/interesting-facts-about-natural-a-145.html>.

"Natural Gas." EIA Energy Kids -. Web. 05 Mar. 2012. <http://www.eia.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=natural_gas_home-basics>.

AE Kids : Fun Facts About Natural Gas." Web. 05 Mar. 2012. <http://www.alliantenergykids.com/EnergyBasics/AllAboutNaturalGas/000519>.

"Natural Gas Facts." Peoples Gas -. Web. 05 Mar. 2012. <http://www.peoplesgas.com/resources/gasfacts/>.