Today, in the home, natural gas turns out to be a fundamental issue, because thanks to it we can cook our food, we can heat the rooms of a house during the winter or when some situation requires that a room must be warm, among other uses. But surely very few of us think and reflect on the importance of this resource, that is, we use it and use it to bring comfort to our lives and because we are used to doing so, however, we do not take into account some important related issues their employment and that is why in this review we will address them.
Non-renewable energy source
Natural Gas is a non-renewable energy source, since it is a combustible gas that comes from ecological formations that is made up of a mixture of gases that are mostly found in oil fields, alone, dissolved or associated with it. oil and coal deposits.
Main components
Although depending on the deposit from which it is extracted, its composition will vary, methane turns out to be its largest composition, being able to exceed this amounts of between 90 or 95%. But also, natural gas usually contains other gases such as CO2, Nitrogen, H2S and Helium, while it is these components that make the use of natural gas is highly polluting.
How is it obtaining?
In addition to how we mentioned it is obtained in fossil deposits, Natural gas can be obtained through the decomposition of organic remains, such as garbage dumps, plants or even gas from swamps. The treatment plants that deal with these remains, such as garbage processing plants, are then those that will take care of producing the type from the aforementioned decomposition and which bears the name of Biogas.
In the event that gas reserves are in very remote and remote places where it would not be profitable at all to build gas pipelines to bring gas to both homes and industries, the alternative is to process it and then convert it into Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), because in this way, in liquid form, it will be much easier and simpler to transport. Liquefied Natural Gas is usually transported at 161 ° C because liquefaction can reduce the volume of gas up to 600 times.
As fuel. Economical and efficient
On the other hand, natural gas stored at high pressures, between 200 and 250 bars, will be transformed into Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), a fuel widely used for vehicles, since compared to gasoline it turns out to be much more economical, as well as efficient.
In many countries, due to the very high costs of gasoline and diesel, many motorists decide to purchase vehicles, or, failing that, to add to them the tubes that supply them with CNG. The differences with respect to economic spending are succulent. We must emphasize that those cars that work as taxis or as remises usually use CNG since it makes their business much more profitable.
Another of the most common uses of natural gas appears related to the production of hydrogen, which is also an alternative fuel to make vehicles run. In this case, hydrogen can be used in two ways, through combustion, with an internal combustion engine or through a fuel cell, hydrogen is converted into electricity and thus powers an electric motor.
Main problems around its use: high degree of environmental pollution, losses, poisoning
We have already talked about all its uses and benefits, however, there is a fundamental negative issue around the use of natural gas and that is its extremely high degree of contamination. The CO2 that reaches the atmosphere after the combustion of natural gas is a greenhouse gas that directly affects global warming, a severe problem that has been affecting the earth as a consequence of this and other actions.
Another problem related to natural gas is that the pipes that transport it to homes are normally damaged and this can cause gas losses that not only can affect people with poisonings as a result of its inhalation but can also cause construction blasting, causing fatal victims who are of course unaware of them.
It is also important that if we have heating appliances that work with natural gas at home, the rooms in which they are arranged must have the corresponding ventilation to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.
So, to avoid some of the complications mentioned, we must carry out periodic controls of the facilities, respect the installation of windows that ventilate rooms and if we smell gas we must immediately notify the companies or competent authorities so that they can intervene.
