Natural Gas - The Future of Alternative Energy
| Natural gas is one of the most essential sources of energy which helps us in many of our daily activities. But do we know how is natural gas produced? |
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Well, the remains of the plants and animals, called as organic materials, get decayed and form a thick layer. These thick layers further get transformed into rock. Subsequently, due to immense heat and pressure, some of these organic materials get transformed into natural gas.
The main component of the natural gas is methane. However, the unrefined natural gas consists of many impure gases in it; hence it goes through rigorous processing before it can be used. Natural gas is a tasteless, odorless and colorless gas; hence, a chemical named mercaptan is added before its supply to give it a distinct and discrete odor. Nowadays, natural gas is also shipped to the US as Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).
It is believed that the demand for natural gas increases in winters. Hence, natural gas is stored in oil and gas wells and moved by pipelines from the manufacturing fields to the patrons as and where required. A survey reveals that around 22% percent of the energy consumption of the US comes from the natural gas and over 70% households use natural gas as their heating fuel.
Natural gas is used extensively these days because it burns up more cleanly than other fossil fuels. On the other hand, natural gas also generates carbon dioxide which is dangerous to the environment and its methane property may lead to explosions. Therefore, precautionary measures must be taken to use natural gas judiciously.
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