Natural Gas as an Alternative Energy Resource Essay

Safe natural gas fracturing or “fracking” is on the rise and our country is benefiting from in on several levels. From meeting energy needs to creating jobs and helping the economy, natural gas is an invisible miracle. Many precautions are taken during the fracking process in order to ensure it is safe as possible. Natural gas is something I work around every day due to the fact I work in the oilfield and the work I do is carried out during a “frac.” Many environmentalist and various people from different scientific fields argue that the benefits are not worth the risk.

While oil and natural gas are fossil fuels that release harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, these energy sources are cleaner than coal, which is on the decline as fracking expands. Indeed, coal production fell thirteen percent from 2007 to 2012, as did nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide production. Moreover, pipeline transportation of oil and natural gas is significantly safer than traditional freight methods, which have devastated many communities around the world and cost millions of dollars.

Natural gas has supplied energy to humanity since the 19th century, it offers great jobs, and is more affordable than other energy sources. Without fossil fuels/natural gas it would harder and more expensive to have everyday energy. With fracking being a big part in today’s world, people still wonder if the chemicals used are really dangerous and if there is another way to make them more earth

W hy does everyone care so much about natural gas? Why is it such an essential part of modern culture? Sure, it's an exciting and up and coming technology, which is fuel for the technological generation that we've grown up in, but we need to take a closer look to see the methods and impacts that could affect generations after us.

This therefore makes it one of the positive aspects of using this alternative source of energy. That is, the process has prevented America from using close to $350 to $450 billions spent on imported oil by extracting our own (Wilber, 2012). This money is therefore used in other areas such as the investment in wind and solar energy among others. Once these alternative energies are in check, natural gas will be used for other reasons such as transportation purposes or for energy efficiency, as it is a powerful energy

Another reason is by using natural gas in making electricity instead of coal because coal emits a huge supply of carbon dioxide into the air. So by using natural gas instead of coal it would reduce air pollution as a whole.

Natural gas is being relied upon more as an energy source instead of the polluting energy source of burning coal. This is a good thing because it is cutting out the CO2 emissions given off by using coal. However, the method of using hydraulic fracturing to get the natural gas is worse for the environment than the coal. But in the long run, the benefits of hydraulic fracturing do not outweigh the costs. Fracking releases methane gas, a greenhouse gas, into the environment. The chemicals that are being used are winding up in our drinking water, and there has been evidence that fracking has increased seismic activity in the regions in which it is being used to extract the natural gas. Using natural gas cuts down the greenhouse gas emissions of coal, but the very method to gather natural gas also increases greenhouse gas emissions. Negating any clean energy benefits that the

Natural gas is not a clean nor renewable source of energy. A transition to wind, solar, geothermic, and hydroelectric energy along with other natural resources that do not produce the harmful environmental concerns are needed. The cleanliness of our air and the reduction of our dependence on fossil fuels is something that needs to take priority. There is a responsibility to do as much as we can to take care of the resources around us and not to destroy them without knowing the consequences that will be

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

In every other category, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide and overall particles it's cleaner. Another plus is oil and coal both release mercury but natural gas does not. Smog and overall air quality is an increasing issue especially in large cities such as columbus. Smog is apart of the ground level of the ozone. It's a chemical reaction of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, other harmful organic compounds, and heat from sunlight. However unlike coal Natural gas has a low carbon monoxide and unlike oil it has a low nitrogen oxide level, As a result of this it contributes little to smog and can be even used to combat smog in metropolitan areas. Acid is another pressing environmental issue. Acid rain is formed when sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides react with water vapor and other chemicals in the presence of sunlight to form various acidic compounds in the air. Natural gas emits virtually no sulfur dioxide so it has almost no threat of acid rain. However, fracking wells release methane gas. This is a problem because if the methane gas isn’t burned of is is 25 times stronger greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Another pro and a con is cost. The process of hydraulic fracking is not cost efficient. This is part of the reason why natural gas is more expensive. However, the fracking industry creates jobs for ohio and the usa as a whole. So far 340,000

Majority of the data available online is either too biased or not peer reviewed and hence misleading to the readers. Natural gas is a very valuable resource and can be combined with engineering innovations to vastly improve human life. For instance, natural gas can help enhance energy efficiency by making the methane and ethane conversion process more effectual and economic. Also, natural gas can be used to generate hybrid high-temperature fluids for cleaner sources of energy such as solar thermal as well as natural gas powered systems for effective cooling and heating applications.3 In this age of technology, it is extremely important to discover ways to augment the potential of natural gas while taking the environmental implications into consideration. Sustainable ways should be developed to generate cleaner and more efficient energy while still embracing the economics benefits of the industry. While considering economic benefits of the hydraulic fracturing industry, it is also of utmost importance to consider those who are residing in areas of current or future shale gas operations for detrimental effects to their health and

Natural Gas is one of the main sources of energy for many of our daily needs and activities because of the clean, safe, and useful characteristic. Natural gas is colorless,

The importance of natural gas is to replace the role of oil in the economy. Natural gas is good for the US because it can produce natural gas domestically. It has plenty of energy for use in people’s homes and in industry. It will help the US economy cope with the depletion of peak oil production. Crude oil is nearly three times as expensive as Natural gas. (Pipeline, 2009-2013)

CO2 is the most significant greenhouse gas, which mainly comes from the use of fossil fuels. Many people feel that content of CO2 in the atmosphere is the main reason for manmade global warming. The main sources of CO2 emissions involve electricity generation, industrial processes, fumes from transportation and commercial buildings and use. Emissions of greenhouse gases, such as CO2, to the atmosphere are expected to cause even more of a significant change in global climate (Davison, 2007). The main focus to try to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is to reduce the amount that is released from coal-fired power plants. Greenhouse gas emissions that involve the productions of electricity come from natural gas production and coal-fired power plant operations. Natural gas production accounts for twenty-four percent and coal-fired power plant operations accounts for seventy-five percent, while the other one percent is caused by other electricity generation operations. The main reason why coal-fired power plants have a higher percentage of emissions is because the sulfur content of coal is much higher than that of other fossil fuels (Jarmaillo et al., 2007). This proves that there is a great need to find an alternative fossil fuel to use instead of coal. Although coal is easy to mine, transport and process for the electricity generation process, it is also the

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.