20 interesting facts about natural gas

1. Natural gas is the cleanest of all the fossil fuels.
2. Natural gas is a gas consisting primarily of methane and can include ethane, propane, butane and pentane as well.
3. It is found associated with other fossil fuels, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes, bogs, and landfills.
4. Natural gas is lighter than air.
5. It is an important fuel source, a major feedstock for fertilizers, and a potent greenhouse gas.
6. Natural gas storage and transportation is its biggest difficulty because of the low density.
7. Before natural gas can be used as a fuel, it must undergo extensive processing to remove almost all materials other than methane.
   
8. Natural gas can be found in oil field, natural gas fields and coal beds.
9. In the 1800s, natural gas was usually produced as a byproduct of producing oil, since the small, light gas carbon chains come out of solution as it undergoes pressure reduction from the reservoir to the surface, similar to uncapping a bottle of soda pop where the carbon dioxide effervesces.
10. Natural gas is non-renewable energy source as the all fossil fuels are and is used mostly for generating electricity and heating.
11. In the 1800s and early 1900s, unwanted gas was usually burned off at the wellsite.
12. Natural gas is often referred to as just gas, without the word natural.
13. In locations such as the United States with a high natural gas demand, pipelines are constructed to take the gas from the wellsite to the end consumer.
14. Natural gas is commonly used in homes for cooking, heating and water heating.
15. Natural gas releases smaller amount of CO2 than oil and coal and is ecologically the most acceptable fossil fuel.
16. US produces about 22 % of the world's total natural gas production.
17. Natural gas doesn't have odor (since is made of methane) and therefore gas companies add "rotten-egg" smell so people could detect possible leakage.
18. Natural gas usually gets to consumer by pipelines (in US there's more than one million of underground pipelines).
19. Natural gas can be converted into the liquid state and then is called Liquid natural Gas (LNG).
20. LNG is much easier for transportation and storage than the natural gas but tanks for storing it are expensive and this is the main reason why LNG isn't widespread as it's not very commercial.