What is Natural Gas?
Natural gas occurring underground is composed largely of methane (70-90%) and other hydrocarbons such as ethane, propane and butane. However, at natural gas processing facilities, most of these other substances are separated out so that the natural gas that we use is composed almost entirely of methane. Natural gas can be produced from either natural gas wells, which primarily produce raw natural gas, or from oil wells where natural gas is recovered along with oil. Natural gas can also be produced from coal-bed methane (CBM) wells. Coal-bed methane, a type of natural gas, is located within coal seams. To be extracted, the seam has to be depressurized by pumping huge volumes of groundwater to the surface. According to one Montana Department of Environmental Quality study, a single well can produce more than 23,000 gallons of water a day. The water has been difficult to manage because of the large quantity and the potential for poor quality – it contains sodium and other salts that can k
Natural Gas is a colorless, odorless, non-toxic mixture of gases such as methane, ethane, propane, and butane. Natural gas is produced by drilling into the Earth’s crust where pockets of natural gas were trapped hundreds of thousands of years ago. Once the gas is brought to the surface, it is refined to remove impurities, like water, other gasses, and sand. Then it is transmitted through large pipelines that span the continent. Distributors add an odorant to the gas as a safety measure so that people will be able to tell if there is a gas leak, or if they forget to turn off an appliance.
Natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel. As the name implies, it is an energy fuel that has a natural origin. Unlike some energy sources, such as electricity produced by coal burning steam plants, it is not manufactured. It used essentially in the same form as it is found. Therefore, it is a good energy choice for environmental purposes. Natural gas is composed primarily of methane and is found beneath the earth’s surface. By itself, natural gas is odorless, colorless and tasteless. AUB adds an odorant for your safety; the odorant, which has a rotten egg odor, makes AUB natural gas easy to detect.
