- what is the natural gas?
- Composition of natural gas
- Characteristics of natural gas
- Natural gas reserves
- Uses and applications of natural gas
- Advantages and disadvantages of natural gas
- Environmental impact of natural gas
We explain what natural gas is, its composition, uses and other characteristics. In addition, its environmental impact and nature reserves.
what is the natural gas?
Natural gas is a hydrocarbon gaseous highly flammable, the result of a mixture light gases of natural origin, mostly alkanes. It's one of the fuels most exploited in the world, extracted from the subsoil in deposits similar (and sometimes even in the same place) to oil tankers.
Its origin is geological, like the Petroleum: diverse organic material of plant and animal origin that was trapped for millions of years in the subsoil, subjected to conditions of heat Y Pressure intense. Thus, the chemical energy contained in the matter it is transferred to gas, making it highly energetic.
Its discovery dates from 6000 to 2000 years before our era, in the territory of what is now Iran, and in the region Baku of what is now Azerbaijan. In fact, the first natural gas leaks, possibly ignited by lightning accidentally, gave rise to the "everlasting fires" worshiped by ancient religions Persians.
However, it was in ancient China that the first extraction pit for this resource, about 150 meters deep; a titanic work carried out with bamboo tools and primitive drills around 211 BC. C.
Natural gas constitutes a fossil fuel and therefore it is a non-renewable natural resource from our planet.
Composition of natural gas
In addition to methane and ethane, it can contain light gases such as butane and propane.Natural gas is a mixture of hydrocarbons. It is composed mainly of methane (CH4) and ethane (C2H6), although it can also contain quantities of light gases such as butane (C4H10) and propane (C3H8), especially when it is diluted in oil (that is, in the same reservoir, the called “associated natural gas”).
In addition, it may contain traces of other compounds Y elements, What carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide or helium.
Natural gas has a composition similar to that of biogas, generated by the anaerobic digestion of organic matter, by microorganisms. However, it is vastly more powerful than this one.
Characteristics of natural gas
Natural gas has the following characteristics:
- It is of fossil origin (organic) and is accumulated in underground deposits.
- It is composed of a gaseous mixture of light hydrocarbons, such as saturated paraffins.
- It is highly flammable, potentially toxic and very versatile in its use.
- It is usually odorless once the sulfur residues have been removed, so some trace of mercaptans are added later to give it a characteristic odor and to be able to identify its presence.
Natural gas reserves
Although its extraction began en masse in the 19th century, the estimates in force in 2017 (according to the business British Petroleum) pointed out that there are 193.5 trillion cubic meters of natural gas left in the world.
According to these estimates, current production can be sustained consecutively for a further 55 years. Most of the reserves are located in the Middle East (43%, especially in Iran and Qatar) and Asia central (31%, especially in Russia and Turkmenistan).
Uses and applications of natural gas
Given its extremely high caloric yield and its versatile nature, natural gas is used today to:
- District heating and ignition of boilers or industrial furnaces.
- Production of electricity in high-performance power plants.
- Vehicular fuel, in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG) or compressed natural gas (CNG), especially in public or long-distance transport.
- Manufacture of chemical materials, such as pigments, fertilizers, preservatives, additives, or chemical compounds to feed the chemical industry and pharmaceutical.
Advantages and disadvantages of natural gas
On the one hand, the advantages of natural gas have to do with its relative abundance: it is much easier to get than oil, and much easier to extract, too.
On the other hand, it is easy to transport once blended, with a low risk of accidents if appropriate measures are taken, both by land What by sea. In addition, due to its enormous caloric output, and its lower emission of greenhouse effect Like CO2 (compared to other fossil hydrocarbons), natural gas is a very advantageous fuel.
However, although it pollutes less than oil or other hydrocarbons, it is also polluting. Therefore, one of its disadvantages is that the CO2 resulting from its combustion contributes to the greenhouse effect and the global warming, changing the weather and threatening the sustainability of life on the planet as we know it.
On the other hand, its caloric yield is not as high as that of oil, nor is it a source of so many usable chemical elements, since it is a much lighter type of hydrocarbon.
Environmental impact of natural gas
Like any other fossil fuel, the exploitation of natural gas has a considerable ecological cost. On the one hand, its extraction requires excavation and land removal, which also has a local geological and erosive impact.
In addition, the leaks of gases such as methane in gas fields represent a strong and dangerous air pollutant, 23 times more harmful than CO2 for the greenhouse effect.