Energy & Gas

Today, natural gas is a vital component of the world's supply of energy. Natural gas currently supplies more than one-half of the energy consumed by residential and commercial customers, and about 41 percent of the energy used by U.S. industry. It is one of the cleanest, safest, and most useful of all energy sources.

The EU is the biggest importer of natural gas in the world. Diversification of supply sources is therefore paramount both for energy security as well as for competitiveness.

A lot of people use natural gas in their homes for cooking and heating, but they don’t really give it some thought. So, let’s see what natural gas is and how it’s different from other forms of fossil fuels like oil and coal.

In 2017, 13 Member States imported a total of 55 billion cubic metres (bcm, gas equivalent) of LNG (Liquefied natural gas), 12% more than one year earlier. LNG imports made up 14% of total extra-EU gas imports in 2017. Spain was the EU's largest LNG importer with 31% of total EU LNG imports in 2017, followed by France (20%), Italy (15%) and the UK (12%). In Q4 2018, the UK took over The Netherlands as biggest gas producer in the EU and the latter country became net gas importer for the first time since Dutch gas production started.

Natural gas currently represents around a quarter of the EU's overall energy consumption. About 26% of that gas is used in the power generation sector (including in combined heat and power plants) and around 23% in industry. Most of the rest is used in the residential and services sectors (mainly for heat in buildings).

The EU's gas demand is around 480 billion cubic metres (bcm) and, based on current policies, is projected to remain relatively stable in the coming years. Domestic gas production is expected to decline in the coming years. This is likely to have an impact on gas imports. At the same time, however, further policies designed to achieve 2030 energy and climate targets – notably those in the Clean Energy for All Europeans package, such as energy efficiency improvements in heating and industry – are likely to see a drop in overall gas usage across the EU.

Natural Gas is a flammable gas, consisting mainly of methane (CH4), occurring in underground reservoirs often with oil.

What is natural gas?
Natural gas is a fossil energy source that formed deep beneath the earth's surface. Natural gas contains many different compounds. The largest component of natural gas is methane, a compound with one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms (CH4). Natural gas also contains smaller amounts of natural gas liquids (NGL; which are also hydrocarbon gas liquids), and nonhydrocarbon gases, such as carbon dioxide and water vapor. We use natural gas as a fuel and to make materials and chemicals.

Natural gas is a non-renewable hydrocarbon used as a source of energy for heating, cooking, and electricity generation. It is also used as a fuel for vehicles and as a chemical feedstock in the manufacture of plastics and other commercially important organic chemicals.

How did natural gas form?
Millions to 100’s of millions of years ago and over long periods of time, the remains of plants and animals (such as diatoms) built up in thick layers on the earth’s surface and ocean floors, sometimes mixed with sand, silt, and calcium carbonate. Over time, these layers were buried under sand, silt, and rock. Pressure and heat changed some of this carbon and hydrogen-rich material into coal, some into oil (petroleum), and some into natural gas.

Natural gas is fundamental to our way of life - we use it for cooking, heating, electricity and power. Over 90% of the natural gas used in Queensland comes from coal seams, but how is it formed and how is it produced? Take a look at how we go about developing our coal seam gas resources safely and sustainable, as we build a new industry that will power the Queensland economy for many years to come.

Where is natural gas found?
In some places, natural gas moved into large cracks and spaces between layers of overlying rock. The natural gas found in these types of formations is sometimes called conventional natural gas. In other places, natural gas occurs in the tiny pores (spaces) within some formations of shale, sandstone, and other types of sedimentary rock. This natural gas is referred to as shale gas or tight gas, and it is sometimes called unconventional natural gas. Natural gas also occurs with deposits of crude oil, and this natural gas is called associated natural gas. Natural gas deposits are found on land and some are offshore and deep under the ocean floor. A type of natural gas found in coal deposits is called coalbed methane.

While the exploration and drilling functions are pretty similar whether you are looking for oil or gas, the production module began highlighting some differences.

Less than half of the EU's gas needs are currently met by domestic production. The rest is imported, mainly from Russia (39 %), Norway (30%), and Algeria (13%). In recent years the share of LNG has increased, accounting  for around 14% of imports in 2017, with most of that coming from Qatar, Algeria and Nigeria.

Qatar is currently by far the world's largest supplier of LNG, at around 100 bcm. Other large (>20 bcm) suppliers include Nigeria, Malaysia, and Indonesia. However, global liquefaction is set to increase dramatically as new plants in the US and Australia come on stream over the next few years.

In 2017, Qatar was the EU's main supplier (41%), followed by Nigeria (19%), Algeria (17%), Peru (7%), Norway (7%), the US (4%) and Trinidad & Tobago (3%).

Environmental Impacts

Global warming emissions
Natural gas is a fossil fuel, though the global warming emissions from its combustion are much lower than those from coal or oil.

Natural gas emits 50 to 60 percent less carbon dioxide (CO2) when combusted in a new, efficient natural gas power plant compared with emissions from a typical new coal plant

Considering only tailpipe emissions, natural gas also emits 15 to 20 percent less heat-trapping gases than gasoline when burned in today’s typical vehicle.

The drilling and extraction of natural gas from wells and its transportation in pipelines results in the leakage of methane, the primary component of natural gas that is 34 times stronger than CO2 at trapping heat over a 100-year period and 86 times stronger over 20 years. Preliminary studies and field measurements show that these so-called “fugitive” methane emissions range from 1 to 9 percent of total life cycle emissions .

Whether natural gas has lower life cycle greenhouse gas emissions than coal and oil depends on the assumed leakage rate, the global warming potential of methane over different time frames, the energy conversion efficiency, and other factors. One recent study found that methane losses must be kept below 3.2 percent for natural gas power plants to have lower life cycle emissions than new coal plants over short time frames of 20 years or fewer. And if burning natural gas in vehicles is to deliver even marginal benefits, methane losses must be kept below 1 percent and 1.6 percent compared with diesel fuel and gasoline, respectively. Technologies are available to reduce much of the leaking methane, but deploying such technology would require new policies and investments.

I almost titled this video "Is fracking good?" but I decided not to do that because, like, obviously, no. Anything that increases the amount of fossil fuels we can get out of the ground is bad. But, at the same time, natural gas is used for heat in much of America, and skyrocketing natural gas prices would be, like, bad for poor people who sometimes have to choose between bills.

Air pollution
Cleaner burning than other fossil fuels, the combustion of natural gas produces negligible amounts of sulfur, mercury, and particulates. Burning natural gas does produce nitrogen oxides (NOx), which are precursors to smog, but at lower levels than gasoline and diesel used for motor vehicles. Analyses indicate that every 10,000 U.S. homes powered with natural gas instead of coal avoids the annual emissions of 1,900 tons of NOx, 3,900 tons of SO2, and 5,200 tons of particulates. Reductions in these emissions translate into public health benefits, as these pollutants have been linked with problems such as asthma, bronchitis, lung cancer, and heart disease for hundreds of thousands of people.

Land use and wildlife
The construction and land disturbance required for oil and gas drilling can alter land use and harm local ecosystems by causing erosion and fragmenting wildlife habitats and migration patterns. When oil and gas operators clear a site to build a well pad, pipelines, and access roads, the construction process can cause erosion of dirt, minerals, and other harmful pollutants into nearby streams

A study of hydraulic fracturing impacts in Michigan found potential environmental impacts to be “significant” and include increased erosion and sedimentation, increased risk of aquatic contamination from chemical spills or equipment runoff, habitat fragmentation, and reduction of surface waters as a result of the lowering of groundwater levels

Water use and pollution
Unconventional oil and gas development may pose health risks to nearby communities through contamination of drinking water sources with hazardous chemicals used in drilling the wellbore, hydraulically fracturing the well, processing and refining the oil or gas, or disposing of wastewater .

Naturally occurring radioactive materials, methane, and other underground gases have sometimes leaked into drinking water supplies from improperly cased wells; methane is not associated with acute health effects but in sufficient volumes may pose flammability concerns. The large volumes of water used in unconventional oil and gas development also raise water-availability concerns in some communities.

Earthquakes
Hydraulic fracturing itself has been linked to low-magnitude seismic activity—less than 2 moment magnitude (M) [the moment magnitude scale now replaces the Richter scale]— but such mild events are usually undetectable at the surface. The disposal of fracking wastewater by injecting it at high pressure into deep Class II injection wells, however, has been linked to larger earthquakes.

Groningen

The Groningen gas field is a giant natural gas field located near Slochteren in Groningen province in the northeastern part of the Netherlands. Discovered in 1959, it is the largest natural gas field in Europe and the tenth-largest in the world.

On the search for oil and gas, on 22 July 1959, the Slochteren 1 well, drilling to a depth of 3,000 meters, discovered the huge 2.8 trillion cubic meters gas field in the porous Rotliegend sandstone formation, which is 130 meters to 140 meters thick and 45 kilometers long from north to south by 25 kilometers long from east to west.

The field started production in 1963 and produced around 100 billion cubic meters per year in the first decade of production but gradually the annual production fell to around 35 billion cubic meters per year. As of 2009 the Groningen gas field has produced around 1,700 billion cubic meters which represents 60% of the total reserves of the field but the remaining 1,100 billion cubic meters are expected to last for another 50 years.

The Groningen gas field is operated by the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij BV (NAM), a joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil with each company owning a 50% share. The field accounts for 50% of the natural gas production in the Netherlands, the other 50% being supplied by around 300 smaller gas fields, most of them located offshore in the North Sea.

After demonstrations in Groningen because of the increase in induced earthquakes, whose event count shows an exponential growth in time, the Dutch government decided on 17 January 2014 to cut output from the gas field and pay those affected by the earthquake a compensation worth 1.2 billion Euro, spread over a period of 5 years. The ministry said production would be cut in 2014 and 2015 to 42.5 bcm and in 2016 to 40 bcm. In June 2016, the Netherlands' National Mines Inspectorate advised the Dutch Government to reduce production even further to 24 bcm per year. On 23 September 2016 Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte confirmed that gas extraction from the northern Groningen gas field will be held at 24 bcm per year for the coming five years.

On March 29th 2018 the government announced it would shut down the gas extraction entirely by 2030 for safety reasons.

Earthquakes
The strongest earthquake ever to hit Groningen was in Huizinge in 2012, with a magnitude of 3.6. In January last year, the province was also hit by a 3.4 magnitude earthquake, also in the municipality of Loppersum. Some 3 thousand damage reports were received after that quake. That earthquake was partly responsible for the government deciding to gradually reduce gas extraction in the province to zero. Groningen was hit by a major earthquake in May 2019 and it had a magnitude of 3.4 on the Richter scale, according to meteorological institute KNMI. That quake is now in the top 3 of the strongest in Groningen.

For an insightful overview on the situation in Groningen, we want to refer you to this website for an animation with real time data:
https://dwarshuis.com/aardbevingen-groningen/

What if the Groninger gas extraction would have happened in Amsterdam? This is how 70.000 reports on our map would look like.

A lot of critique on our Prime Minister Rutten, saying the Dutch gas extraction has halved.

What do you do regarding more sustainable energy use? By tagging us with #theconsciouschallenge you can share your ideas!


Want to contribute to our Ecological Footprint Bible? Submit us your scientific articles! Mail us at info@theconsciouschallenge.org

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