Benefits Of Dense Energy Storage

Even more disturbing to some, possible groundwater contamination is the claim that the methane released during the extraction process cancels out any of the assumed environmental benefits. Although the overall amounts are relatively low, methane has one-hundred and five times more warming impact pound for pound than carbon dioxide, and so a little really does go a long way when it comes to climate change. Not surprisingly, there is wide disagreement on how much methane is being leaked into the atmosphere as part of the fracking process.

The Industrial Revolution created a society and energy consumption based on coal. However, in a more traditional society, natural gas has been obtained through oil drilling. While

Coal seam gas (CSG) is mostly composed of methane and is typically attached to coal underground. This gas is released when pressure on the coal seam is reduced by removing water from the seams (Queensland Government, 2014 ). In order to obtain the gas, wells are drilled into the coal seams, bringing water from the coal seams to the surface. This process reduces pressure and allows the gas to be released (Queensland Government, 2014 ). CSG is an important energy resource in Queensland and production of this gas takes up an ever-increasing proportion of Queensland gas use.

5. Osborn, S., Vengosh, A., Warner, N., & Jackson, R. (2011). Methane contamination of drinking water accompanying gas-well drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,108(20), 8172-8176. Retrieved September 29, 2014, from http://www.pnas.org/content/108/20/8172.full

Recently, scientists discovered the use of Shale oil as an alternative to natural gas and propane. Technological advances have made heating cleaner and more convenient. Gone are the days of chopping down trees or shoveling coal into a furnace to keep ones family warm. However, heating with natural gas and propane have come with a cost. While both propane and natural gas have been determined to be a very clean in regards to emissions (emitting between 30-45% less CO2 than coal and oil) obtaining the gases from the earth is not an environmentally friendly process.

The forest city basin contains substantial coal resources in numerous beds too deep and thin to be mined by conventional methods. However, these coal beds have the potential to produce commercial quantities of coalbed methane

In 1848, James Marshall discovered a single nugget of gold in the American River in California, setting off a massive migration west as hundreds sought to capitalize upon the Gold Rush. Today, a similar situation is playing out. In the late 2000s, new technology enabled workers to extract natural gas from previously inaccessible shale deposits through horizontal hydraulic fracturing. This “shale boom” has had companies racing to capitalize upon the potential of vast natural gas and promises of energy independence and cheap energy. Yet, as the miners during the Gold Rush found upon arriving to California, scientists today are finding that many of the initial claims are not as they seemed. Companies are recklessly continuing, prospecting for natural gas deposits. Hydraulic fracturing is a means of extracting natural gas from deep, previously inaccessible shale deposits. It involves injecting a fracking cocktail mixture of water, sand, and various other chemical fluids into the ground at very high pressures to literally fracture the ground, releasing natural gas that can then be collected. Natural gas is a finite fossil fuel, yet due to the recent fracking boom, many people in the United States have heralded it as the future of America’s energy, the way to energy security.

Because of technical improvements, nonrenewables are found, extracted, and employed more efficiently than ever. Since 2000, companies have located more natural gas sources in the United States. This occurred because of advances in exploration methods. New ways to process coal have led to fewer impurities. The energy efficiency of coal has also improved so that more energy can be created from less coal.

North America has never been one to boast of rich oil reserves, but we have an abundant amount of natural gases. Until recently these natural resources have been unobtainable and untapped. But thanks to technological advancements, we are now able to exploit these rich gas reserves. Hydraulic fracturing has revolutionized the production of energy in the United States as well as other places in the world.

There is a never ending search for an effective source of energy that is both efficient and the safest option to use. Scientists located in japan may have found a solution to this dilemma as they were recently able to locate methane clathrate, more commonly known as fire ice. Despite the name existing as an oxymoron, many believe this hydrate could prove to be the savior for the earth’s fuel problems. However, given current research this supposedly useful source of natural gas could prove even more detrimental towards the environment than carbon dioxide.

Benzene has been identified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a known carcinogen and is due to the way wastewater is disposed (Kelly, 2012). These claims have gone largely uncontested from the industry and the EPA recently introduced new federal standards which went into place in April of 2012, capping emissions from drill sites. This is the first federal effort to address air pollution associated with the natural gas drilling industry (Broder, 2012). This study and subsequent regulations beg the question; “Is the air pollution created through the release of greenhouse gases in the hydrofracking process worse than that of the coal we’re burning to produce electricity?” Based on current research, findings are unclear and often conflicting (Ju, 2012). Until more extensive - and perhaps more importantly - conclusive research is conducted, there will not be an actionable answer. Trading one form of air pollution for another with the added risk of endangering the water supply comes off as greedy and irresponsible behavior. In hindsight, considering the precious, irreplaceable resource being gambled with it would stand to reason that extensive research on potential pitfalls would be done prior to diving head first into a booming industry allowed in large part to regulate itself and make its own rules. Many other environmental studies have been done on

In some research conducted, it was seen that burning coal produces airborne compounds, known as fly ash and bottom ash (collectively referred to as coal ash), which can contain large quantities of heavy metals that settle or wash out of the atmosphere into oceans, streams, and land. Coal combustion releases mercury and When mercury is deposited on land or in water, microorganisms convert part of it to a highly toxic form called methylmercury. When fish and animals eat these microorganisms, the toxins accumulate and can

The occurrence of large natural clathrate hydrate deposits on the oceanic sea floors and the possibility that these gas hydrates could be mined as an energy source of hydrocarbon gas or used to sequester CO2 gas are still attracting considerable interest.

Clathrates (also known as cage compounds) are compounds of noble gases in which they are trapped within cavities of crystal lattices of certain organic and inorganic substances. The condition for Noble gas to form compound should be of appropriate size to fit in the cavities of the host crystal lattice. In case of He and Ne cannot form a compound because it is too small to fit inside the cavity of crystal lattice. However massive amount of energy was needed to form Clathrates compound. For example, Helium nitrogen chrystal needed 10 GPa (Giga Pascal) (98692.3266716 atm) which could only performed inside the laboratory

With the carbon emission regulations recently introduced by US government, natural gas is the most likely substitution to coal for electricity generation for years to come. Latest price reductions made natural gas from a cost perspective much more attractive than coal.