THE NONRENEWABLE RESOURCE FORMATION Like oil, natural is a product of decomposed organic matter, usually from ancient marine microorganisms left on the bottom of bodies of waters mixed with mud, silt, and sand on the sea floor, gradually becoming buried over time. Since it is sealed off in an oxygen-free environment and exposed to increasing amounts of heat and pressure, the organic matters undergo a thermal breakdown process that converts it into hydrocarbons. The lightest of these hydrocarbons exit in the gaseous state under normal conditions and are known collectively as natural gas. Once this natural gas forms, it depends on two very critical characteristics of the surrounding rock: porosity and permeability. POPOSITY is referred to as the amount of empty space there is within the grains of the rock. Highly porous rocks like sandstones, on a good day have porosities of 5% to 25%. this gives them a large amount of space to store fluids like oil, water, and gas. PERMEABILITY is a measure of the degree in which the pore spaces in a rock are interconnected. A rock with high permeability will let more gas and liquids to flow very easily through the rock. After natural gas forms, it then rises to the top of the surface through the pores spaces in the rock because of its low density compared to the surrounding rock. MAJOR RESERVES AND HOW THE GAS IS EXTRACTED The biggest reserve of natural gas is in...Russia!, which has seven times the reserves of the U.S. Our country is endowed with a substantial resource of natural gas and new findings has revised that number in the upward position in the last few years. But, what we Americans do best, we use more gas every year than can be produced so we depend on the Canadian... ... middle of paper ... ...ting unconventional sources of gas have dramatically raised estimates of the U.S.'s available gas resource. In the short, renewable energy added to the grid just may displace natural gas use, because natural gas power typically has the highest operating costs. In the long, increased amounts of renewable energies are more likely to encourage the use of natural gas as a complementary source of power. Natural gas plants have the operational flexibility to vary their production rapidly, so this will allow them to be able to provide more reliability to the electric power system as it transitions to greater shares of renewable generation. Works Cited Malouf, Agnes and David Wimberly The Health Hazard of Natural Gas http://www.environmentalhealth.ca/summer01gas.html How Natural Gas Works http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/technology_and_impacts/ener...
In 1908, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) predicted that the total future supply of U.S. oil would not exceed 23 billion barrels. In 1914, the U.S. Bureau of Mines predicted that only 5.7 billion barrels of oil remained. In 1920, the USGS proclaimed the peak in U.S. oil production was almost reached. In 1939, the Department of Interior declared that there was only 13 years of oil production remaining. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter claimed, “We are now running out of oil.” Despite these predictions, the U.S. has produced over 200 billion barrels of oil since the early 1900’s. (The Futurist, 1997)
Once the gas is found, it flows up through the well to the surface of the ground and into large
The United States relies on imports for about forty percent of its crude oil, which is the lowest rate of dependency since 1991 according to the U.S Energy Information Administration. Today our country is trying to keep on track in becoming less and less dependent. When it comes to the topic of the future ways the United States will get its fuel, most of us readily agree that the United States should become more independent by using natural gas that is already here on our land. Where this argument usually ends, however, is on the question of the consequences drilling for natural gas brings. Whereas some are convinced drilling is safe, others maintain that it is actually in fact dangerous. Hydraulic fracturing or "fracking", the terms for drilling for natural gas, is dangerous to our public health and to the environment because of the water contamination it causes. Therefore, it is not something that should become a project for alternative fuel used by the United States.
Shale gas is a kind of unconventional nature gas, which is trapped or gathered in the dark shale or carbon rock. The rock layer has low permeability and low porosity, which means that the best way to get this recourse is fracturing to enhance connectivity and porosity. The shale gas reservoirs are mainly located in North America, Central Asia, China, Latin America, Middle East, North Africa and Russia and other countries and regions. The United State and Canada are only two countries, which have significant shale gas production.
The United States spends billions of dollars on importing oil. This is represented as almost two-thirds of the country’s entire annual trade deficit. Now that there is more access to gas deposits, there is no need to rely on other countries around the world for fossil fuels. America can instead rely on their own resources to provide energy for the residents. America is already the world's largest producer of natural gas thanks to shell drilling and the country's sits on 2 of the world's largest gas fields gas production has soared 20 percent in five years in the United States now should have enough gas to last generations soon the nation will begin exporting gas and unimaginable possibility just a few years ago when energy supplies look set to run out in the construction of gas importing facilities was considered a matter of national urgency (Zuckerman, G.,
According to the U.S. Department of Energy [USDE], the earliest sightings of natural gas date back to 100 to 125 A.D, referred to as eternal fires by Plutarch’s writings, found in present day Iraq. These flames were more than likely natural gas that was ignited by lighting and escaping from cracks in the ground. During the 1800’s William A. Hart of Fredonia, New York , noticed those blue flames shooting through cracks nearby and decided to drill a twenty-seven foot deep well in...
The United States has become one of the leading producers of natural gas in the world, and now is an exporter of natural gas as well. As natural gas imports increase, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, ?Expects the United States to
America is facing an energy revolution. The shift from traditional energy sources such as coal and oil are fading while newer sources are being used to sustain an insatiable thirst for energy. A front-runner is natural gas, a cleanly burning and abundant alternative for conventional energy sources. This nonrenewable resource is found miles underground in prehistoric shale deposits, to show the magnitude “North America has approximately 4.2 quadrillion (4,244 trillion) cubic feet of recoverable natural gas that would supply 175 years worth of natural gas at current consumption rates” locked in these shale deposits (Loris). However, the dilemma comes from how natural gas is extracted from the earth. One of the processes of accessing the natural gas is called Hydraulic Fracturing or “Fracking”. It is the process of shooting a highly pressurized mixture of water, sand, and chemicals into cracks in the shale deposits, essentially fracturing the shale that then releases the natural gas (Malakoff).
...ative, renewable energy resources. Most tend to think of solar power, wind power, and hydroelectricity as the most capable alternatives to fossil fuels, yet that mindset is greatly evolving.
Natural gas is not a renewable resource, since there is a fixed amount of it trapped in the Earth. However, many people think that there is a small amount of natural gas and that we may use it all up. This is not true. There was said to be a gas shortage in the 1970’s so prices of oil skyrocketed from three dollars a barrel to twelve dollars a barrel. In reality, this was an excuse prompted by the government's lack of faith in the industry's ability to discover and develop new reserves, and not by lack of gas supply. The disastrous impression left by the “shortages of gas” in the 1970's is that there is little gas left to be discovered and will soon run out . However, in reality, the gas resource base is massive, and probably even larger than
In the year 1990, the United States produced a total of 70.7 quadrillion Btu of energy. This quantity steadily increased to 74.8 quadrillion in 2010 to 78.1 quadrillion Btu in 2011, which was attributed by large portion of domestic production of natural gas and crude oil whole quantity increased from 19 quadrillion Btu in 2007 to 23.6 quadrillion Btu in 2011. As a result the use of hydraulic fracking in United States made it the second largest natural gas producer in the year 2011 after Russia based on the world Fact
Natural gas is also affected by physical factors. Natural gas forms over millions of years through extensive heating and pressure on dead material and is therefore only found in places which were densely populated by plants and animals millions of years ago. One example of where gas is found is in some types of sandstone. This means the geology of the land is very important in determining where natural gas is located and therefore where it is supplied to. This is because it is easier and cheaper to use gas near to its source rather than transport it long distances. However, some
The process starts with drilling a hole into the ground where hard rock formations are abundant. Shale, tight sand, and coal seam are primarily used as natural gas deposits in the United States (EPA, 2016). The hole is then drilled horizontally, usually for miles across to access enough shale rock. Large volumes of fluid are sent down the opening at a highly pressurized rate (BBC, 2015). The fluid, a mixture of chemicals, water, and sand, is sent along the horizontal section, which causes the geological formation to break, or fracture from the pressure. Within these fractures are natural gas molecules, which are forced to the ground surface when they are released by the fracking fluid. Massive amounts of fresh water from local sources are needed; approximately 5 million gallons (Gottlieb, 2012). This form of natural gas extraction increases the amount of fresh water used by each natural gas well by as much as one hundred times the quantity used in conventional drilling (Gilbert, 2010). Risk of contamination can be through seepage or spillage into ground water supply, improper wastewater disposal, and natural gas leakage (EPA, 2016). Rural communities and fracturing have a higher risk of being exposed to toxic fracturing fluid and poor air
Renewable energy will make the US a safer and cleaner home. Non renewable energy, like fossil fuels, are increasing global warming emission in an irreversible way. However, there is a way to stop the growing emissions; by reducing fossil fuel consumption, and switching to alternative energy. It will create jobs improving the economy, help the environment, and make us less vulnerable to the worlds fuel market.
...t the demand for electricity than non-renewable. Also it could be more environmentally friendly. Wind energy, as it can be seen that wind energy might lowest danger and more reliability.