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Advantages & Disadvantages of Natural Gas
Natural Gas - what's good about it, what's bad about it.
Reasons Why Natural Gas Is Good:
- Natural gas is kinder to the environment.
- Compared to other fossil fuels, natural gas is superior when it comes to clean combustion. It has low emissions of carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide. It does not leave behind ash, soot, or offensive odors. One way to tell if your appliance is burning natural gas the way it should is the presence of a blue flame.
- Offsite storage.
- You won't have to worry about unsightly fuel tanks in your outdoor living space. Natural gas is derived from underground. It is then delivered by gas mains to your local consumption center. A utility company connects and maintains the pipes that feed into a meter outside your home. From there, individual lines connect to the gas appliances inside and outside your home.
- It's dependable.
- You won't have to worry about interruption of service due to a power outage or severe weather conditions. Natural gas is derived and routed from under the earth's surface. This means that while Mother Nature may be raging above ground, fuel is still delivered without impact. Did you know that natural gas is quickly becoming a fuel alternative for vehicles? It is also commonly used to generate electricity!
- Can you say "savings"?
- Natural gas tends to remain immune to supply and demand. Even when diesel fuel and gasoline prices rise above the cost of a gallon of milk, natural gas rates stays low.
Drawbacks Of Natural Gas:
- CAUTION! Highly combustible!
- Because of its flammable properties, the mishandling of natural gas can lead to dangerous explosions. Its odorless properties also make it difficult to detect leaks; therefore, an odorant must be added to it.
- It is a non-renewable energy source.
- Although you can count on it to sustain aggressive weather conditions, experts say we can't rely on this fuel source forever. Scientists believe that, at some point, this energy source will be depleted from Earth's underground stockpile. Taking heed of this advice, many engineers have discovered ways to conserve natural gas by utilizing solar and wind energy.
- Greenhouse gas emissions.
- This is perhaps the biggest downfall of natural gas. Yes, it is considered one of the cleaner fossil fuels, but it still emits carbon dioxide and monoxide when burned, which is damaging to our atmosphere. With new and stricter emissions standards in place, this is just the beginning of figuring out a way to make natural gas a more environmentally-friendly energy source.
- Processing is hazardous.
- Natural gas must go through a processing technique in order to be used as fuel. Everything expect methane must be extracted, which results in more emissions of harmful byproducts such as sulfur, helium, nitrogen, and ethane.
Despite the disadvantages, there are a lot of great reasons to use this fuel as your energy source. With an efficiency rate lingering at 90% and the ability to burn cleaner than oil and coal, there's a lot to love about natural gas.
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