Natural gas, a close relative of crude oil, natural gas is a fossil fuel that is flammable and is often found in underground reservoirs and is composed of methane and other hydrocarbon compounds. In ancient times, natural gas is often considered a waste product that is only in keluatkan to be burned. But after the mining giant natural gas found in the Panhandle in 1918, finally, the Americans began to use natural gas for heating in their homes and, later, used as a power plant. However, at that time natural gas has not been able to overcome the dominance of oil and nuclear.
The situation becomes better for natural gas.
The position of natural gas for the better after a nuclear crisis that followed the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March 2011, giving rise to the question of nutmeg circles about the security of nuclear energy. Meanwhile, natural gas has defeated two biggest obstacles - the price is stable and natural gas reserves are very large. Having held the exploitation of natural gas reserves by the United States and other countries resulted in relatively low natural gas prices in the last two years. With global demand for energy is expected to grow double digits in the next decade, analysts anticipate a new boom in natural gas consumption.
Given the concerns about nuclear power and constraints on carbon emissions, one bank, Société Générale, said natural gas is the fuel "option." However, natural gas remains there side effects. To open the methane from shale rock hard in the United States, energy companies using hydraulic fracturing, a method that has been criticized on the basis of contaminating water sources, including rivers and underground aquifers. With hydrofracking, both can produce more than one million gallons of wastewater that is often mixed with highly corrosive salt, carcinogens such as benzene and radioactive elements like radium, all of which can occur naturally thousands of feet underground. other carcinogenic substances can be added to waste water with chemicals used in hydrofracking itself.
So many are reconsidering the potential of natural gas as a source of stable power, after seeing the history of coal and nuclear energy. Utility chief was aware of the natural gas price fluctuations, especially in the last two decades. But security concerns could make building new nuclear plants are expensive, while new rules to limit carbon emissions by the Environmental Protection Agency will require costly investments in coal so that natural gas would be an option. This is supported also by the report after the Japanese earthquake. This policy is supported by two parties, the Center and the American Clean Skies Foundation, which predicts that natural gas consumption will increase.
