Natural Gas

Qualon CraddockTheresa Kellar

A NON RENEWABLE SOURCE OF ENERGY

A Non Renewable Resource

• Technically speaking Natural Gas is renewable but it takes thousands of years for it to be reproduced.

• It will never be renewed in one humans life time.

How is it collected?

• Wells are drilled into the ground to remove the natural gas. It is then treated at gas plants to remove impurities such as hydrogen sulfide, helium, carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons, and moisture.

Primary Uses• NATURAL GAS is the

ideal fuel for industrial and domestic purposes: cooking, hot water heating and central heating.

• It is also used for electricity, fuel for cars, and in the manufacturing of plastics.

How is it Created• Natural gas in the form

of Fossil fuel is created when layers of buried plants and animals are exposed to intense heat and pressure over thousands of years. The energy that the plants and animals originally obtained from the sun is stored in the form of chemical bonds in natural gas.

Natural Cycle

• Natural Gas production is a part of the carbon cycle.

How does it create electricity?

What is it’s efficiency?

• The direct use of natural gas in America's homes and businesses maintains about 92 percent of its usable energy.

• Since the energy is going directly to the source less energy is lost in the transition. Making natural gas a very efficient form of energy.

Emissions• The average emission rates from

the U.S alone is –1135 lbs/MWh CO2, –0.1 lbs/MWh of SO2 –1.7 lbs/MWh of NO. 

• In 2003, U.S natural gas reserves were about 1,388 trillion ft³ and production was about  18.6 trillion ft³

CostThe Cost of Natural Gas in 2013 was:• Import price - $3.94• Export price - $4.08• Residential Price -

$10.33• Commercial price –

$8.10• Industrial price - $4.66• Electric Power price -

$4.48

Economics• The cost of natural gas all depends on the

weather. If we have a generally warm winter natural gas prices will be low because there was less use in the months when heating was needed, but if we a have cold winter then the prices will increase and this can cause conflicts both economically and politically.

• http://www.cnbc.com/id/101432934

Average Cost to Produce Natural Gas• United States - $33.76• Canada - $24.76• Africa - $45.32• Middle East - $16.88• Central/South America - $26.64

Natural gas prices are mainly a function of market supply and demand.

Power Output• Natural gas is a major source

of electricity generation through the use of cogeneration (heat engine), gas turbines and steam turbines.

World Use Percentage

• Organizations for Economic Co-Operation and Development.

Percentage

Largest Reserves

Countries with the largest natural gas reserves

• Algeria- 4.5 Trillion cubic meters• Venezuela-4.98 Trillion cubic meters• Nigeria-5.25 trillion cubic meters• UAE-6.07 trillion cubic meters• United States- 6.93 trillion cubic• Saudi Arabia- 7.46 trillion cubic meters• Turkmenistan-7.5 trillion cubic meters• Qatar-25.47 trillion cubic meters• Iran-29.6 trillion cubic meters• Russia-47.57 trillion cubic meters

PoliticsCurrent conflict with Russia – A large part of the Ukraine/Russia conflict was that the Ukraine relies heavily on Russia's natural gas exports.

For years the United States has said that it needs to find way stop its reliance on foreign oil.

HISTORY• During the 19th

century, Natural Gas was used almost only for light (oil candles/lanterns) but since the Bunsen Burner was invented in 1885, it opened a vast array of future uses of natural gas.

PROS V. CONS• Pros– Large reserves

remain– Less air pollutants

are emitted than when burning other fossil fuels

– High net energy compared to other fossil fuels

• Cons– Low net energy

when converted to LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas)

– Releases carbon dioxide when burned

– Difficult and costly to transport

– Pipeline infrastructure is underdeveloped.

Fracking in Texas• Eagle Ford Shale

Play• There are about

8,000 wells that have already been drilled in the Eagle Ford Shale, which is about 20,000 square miles. Another 5,000 or so have been permitted or online.

The Politics of Fracking• While many people who live in areas

where fracking is taking place have many complaints about water and air pollution in their areas, but some would agree that the economic gain is worth it.

• The government insists that fracking doesn’t bother the environment enough to be a big enough problem.

Problems with Fracking

• The major problem with fracking is that if a fracking pipe explodes the land becomes unlivable.

Eagle Ford Shale Findings

• The main findings were that there are all manner of toxic chemicals that are associated with oil and gas production that appear to be making people sick, benzene, which can cause cancer, sulfur dioxide, which causes severe lung problems, hydrogen sulfide, which can cause a variety of chronic conditions and also it can be lethal in high enough doses.

• The process of drilling and injecting fluid into the ground at a high pressure in order to fracture shale rocks to release natural gas inside

• Lead, uranium, mercury, ethylene glycol, radium, methanol, hydrochloric acid, and formaldehyde are just some of the 600 chemicals used in fracking fluid.

• Runoff from fracking operations can cause tremendous environmental harm and can create small earthquakes.

• In the end, hydraulic fracking produces approximately 300,000 barrels of natural gas a day, but at the price of numerous environmental, safety, and health hazards.

Natural Gas Overview• It is non renewable• Used for heating, cooling, electricity

and fuel for cars.• Created over thousands of years of the

compression of dead plants and animals

• Part of the carbon cycle• Very efficient• Cost depends on supply and demand• Creates less pollutants then fossil fuels

Natural Gas Overview Cont

• Power output is done through cogeneration (heat engine), gas turbines and steam turbines.

• 24% of the worlds energy comes from Natural Gas.

• The largest reserves are found in the Middle East and Russia.

• United States consumes ¼ of the worlds natural gas resources.

• Does release carbon dioxide into the air• New forms of extracting Natural Gas

(Fracking) have created some health risks.

Sources • http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-and-you/affect/natural-gas.html• http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/06/world/europe/us-seeks-to-reduce-ukraines-reliance-o

n-russia-for-natural-gas.html• http://

theenergycollective.com/ed-dodge/308406/renewables-and-natural-gas-are-partners-not-opponents

• http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/d0cf6618525a9efb85257359003fb69d/eecb62db73ee67b485257c0d0058936b!opendocument

• http://www.businessinsider.com/countries-biggest-natural-gas-reserves-2011-06?op=1• http://www.apga.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3329• http://stories.weather.com/fracking• http://

www.newrepublic.com/article/116909/natural-gas-keystone-xl-pipeline-wont-save-us-economy

• http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2014/03/07/ups-to-benefit-from-fleet-running-on-alternative-fuel/

• https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bifueltech.shtml• http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/raising-health-air-quality-concerns-texas-fracking-frontier

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