Natural
Gas
Natural gas is a domestically produced alternative
fuel and is readily available to end users through the utility
infrastructure. It can produce significantly fewer harmful
emissions than gasoline or diesel when used in natural gas
vehicles.
Read more about Natural Gas as alternative fuel - click
here
Also see http://www.agama.co.za/
for a South African initiative
Facts
about Natural Gas
Most natural gas consumed in the United States
is domestically produced, with significant importation from
Canada and a small but rapidly growing contribution from overseas
imports in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG). There
are groups in South Africa who are experiencing with Natural
Gas.
The vast majority of natural gas is a fossil
fuel, formed over millions of years by the action of heat
and pressure on organic material (ancient plants and animals).
It is derived in much smaller amounts from renewable sources
such as landfill gas and water/sewage treatment; for an example
of this, see the report Franklin County Sanitary Landfill
- Landfill Gas (LFG) to Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Project
(PDF
6.7 MB). Other supplemental sources include synthetic
gas and coal-derived gas. See the Energy Information Administration
natural gas production page for more information.
Gas trapped in sub-surface porous rock reservoirs
is extracted via drilling. Gas streams produced from oil and
gas reservoirs contain natural gas, liquids, and other materials.
Processing is required to separate the gas from petroleum
liquids and to remove contaminants.
First, the gas is separated from free liquids
such as crude oil, hydrocarbon condensate, water, and entrained
solids. The separated gas is further processed to meet specified
requirements. For example, natural gas for transmission companies
must generally meet certain pipeline quality specifications
with respect to water content, hydrocarbon dewpoint, heating
value, and hydrogen-sulfide content.
A dehydration plant controls water content,
a gas processing plant removes certain hydrocarbon components
to hydrocarbon dewpoint specifications, and a gas sweetening
plant removes hydrogen sulfide and other sulfur compounds
(when present).
Above information from http://www.eere.energy.gov
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