natural gas

     

Natural gas is a gaseous fossil fuel consisting primarily of methane but incluing significant quantities of ethane, propane, butane, and pentane—heavier hydrocarbons removed prior to use as a consumer fuel —as well as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, helium and hydrogen sulfide. It is found in oil fields (associated) either dissolved or isolated in natural gas fields (non associated), and in coal beds (as coalbed methane). When methane-rich gases are produced by the anaerobic decay of non-fossil organic material, these are referred to as biogas. Sources of biogas include swamps, marshes, and landfills (see landfill gas), as well as sewage sludge and manure by way of anaerobic digesters, in addition to enteric fermentation particularly in cattle.

Trivia about natural gas

  • In 1998 the magazine told of efforts to liquify this "cleanest of fossil fuels" for use in cars
  • In 1937 an explosion of this, unodorized, killed 300 people in a New London, Texas school
  • It's not just oil -- Saudi Arabia has reserves of over 200 trillion cubic feet of this
  • ...with this energy source, a colorless hydrocarbon consisting primarily of methane & ethane
  • This type of fossil fuel is primarily methane
  • Algeria is a major exporter of this resource, the NG in LNG
  • (Cheryl of the Clue Crew at an oil rig near Oklahoma City) Once a derrick has drilled, what you see in an oil field is a pumpjack, bringing up mainly oil & this fuel
  • An important commercial use of cryogenics is the freezing of LNG, liquified this fuel, for storage & transport
  • To the Times, XOM's plan to buy XTO Energy for $31 bil. shows it expects rising demand for this fuel that's cleaner than coal
  • It's generally odorless, so an odorant is added to let you know if there's a leak or if you left the oven on
  • If you smell the mercaptans that are deliberately added to this, get out of the house

Found pages about natural gas