Energy comparison: natural gas

Hi everyone,

Today we're talking about natural gas. Natural gas is a commonly used fossil fuel. So we thought we would go over the pros and cons of natural gas.

So first of all, we can quickly cover what natural gas actually is. In its natural form it's a mix of mostly methane and then some other chemical components like propane and butane. However, it's normally processed so that it's almost pure methane. Natural gas forms when organic materials (like dead plants and animals) are crushed into the ground. So it's like coal in that sense. The most popular theory is that the different conditions like temperature and pressure then control whether coal, oil, or gas is formed. Natural gas reserves are found globally. The largest gas fields are in Russia, under the North Sea, in the United States, Canada, Algeria and the Middle East. It's often found near to or even in oil fields. Natural gas is colourless, odorless, tasteless and obviously highly flammable. It's used for electricity production, heating and cooking, as fuel for some types of vehicles and in the manufacture of plastics, fertilizers and dyes.

Let's look at the benefits first. Natural gas is a lot cheaper than other energy sources. It has considerably less emissions than coal and oil and provides hundreds of thousands of jobs in different fields from electricians to physicists.

Unfortunately there are also downsides to this energy source. It is still a fossil fuel, meaning that it is not renewable. At some point, there will not be any left. Despite having lower emissions than coal and oil, it does still emit carbon dioxide and water vapour both of which are greenhouse gases. There are different ways to extract natural gas. One of them is fracking, which has profound environmental impacts. It not only uses a lot of water therefore depleting groundwater, it also produces toxic, radioactive wastewater and can also cause minor earthquakes, damaging infrastructure. The escaping gas from these processes is, of course, methane, which is a much more dangerous greenhouse gas than CO2.

In conclusion, while natural gas is a more environmentally friendly option compared to coal and oil, it is still a fossil fuel with the given limitations. Its cost-effectiveness and lower emissions make it a viable short-term solution, but considering the environmental effects and its non-renewable limitation it is still necessary to search for more sustainable alternatives.

Your Green World Blog Team💚

Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/science/natural-gas
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/natural-gas/
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/natural-gas/
https://www.environmentalscience.org/natural-gas

Images:
“Natural Gas Fracking”, owned by Daniel Foster (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

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