Natural Gas

Vaclav Smil receives 2015 OPEC Award for Research "In Natural Gas, Smil provides much valuable background on the relative amounts of carbon emissions produced by all of our major energy sources. He explains why natural gas is the best of the fossil fuels in terms of energy output relative to carbon emissions (while noting that leaks of natural gas methane could in fact outweigh the savings in carbon emissions)." (Resilience, April 2016)

Vaclav Smil Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Manitoba, Canada

Preface ix Acknowledgments xi 1 Valuable Resource with an Odd Name 1 1.1 Methanes Advantages and Drawbacks 4 2 Origins and Distribution of Fossil Gases 13 2.1 Biogenic Hydrocarbons 14 2.2 Where to Find Natural Gas 19 2.3 Resources and the Progression of Reserves 27 3 Extraction, Processing, Transportation, and Sales 37 3.1 Exploration, Extraction, and Processing 40 3.1.1 Exploration and Drilling 41 3.1.2 Well Completion and Production 45 3.1.3 Natural Gas Processing 50 3.2 Pipelines and Storages 54 3.2.1 Modern Pipelines 56 3.2.2 Storing Natural Gas 62 3.3 Changing Production 65 4 Natural Gas as Fuel and Feedstock 71 4.1 Industrial Uses, Heating, Cooling, and Cooking 74 4.1.1 Industrial Uses of Natural Gas 75 4.1.2 Natural Gas for Space Heating and Cooling 77 4.1.3 Cooking with Natural Gas 79 4.1.4 Liquefied Petroleum Gas 80 4.2 Electricity Generation 81 4.2.1 Gas Turbines 82 4.2.2 CCGTs 85 4.3 Natural Gas as a Raw Material 88 4.3.1 Ammonia Synthesis 90 4.3.2 Plastics from Natural Gas 95 4.3.3 GastoLiquid Conversions 98 5 Exports and Emergence of Global Trade 103 5.1 North American Natural Gas System 105 5.2 Eurasian Networks 109 5.3 Evolution of Lng Shipments 118 6 Diversification of Sources 129 6.1 Shale Gas 132 6.1.1 American Shale Gas Extraction 135 6.1.2 Shales outside the United States 140 6.2 CBM and Tight Gas 142 6.2.1 Tight Gas 144 6.3 Methane Hydrates 146 7 Natural Gas in Energy Transitions 151 7.1 Fuel Substitutions and Decarbonization of Energy Supply 155 7.2 Methane in Transportation 161 7.2.1 LNG 162 7.2.2 CNG 166 7.3 Natural Gas and the Environment 168 7.3.1 Methane Emissions from Gas Industry 169 7.3.2 Methane from Shale Gas 175 7.3.3 Water Use and Contamination 180 8 The Best Fuel for the TwentyFirst Century? 189 8.1 How Far Will Gas Go? 192 8.2 Shale Gas Prospects 199 8.3 Global LNG 208 8.4 Uncertain Futures 214 References 221 Index 245