Amid increasing costs, ongoing political instability in nations with the largest proven reserves, and mounting concerns about environmental impact, crude oil/petroleum and its derivatives (gasoline/petrol, diesel, and propane/LPG, for example) face an ever-widening spectrum of competitive energy sources in the global energy market — including everything from mineral fuels like natural uranium to renewable sources like solar energy.
Natural gas, in particular, is playing an increasingly important role in addressing the world’s energy needs. In addition to cost and environmental-impact advantages, natural gas is now more plentiful than ever, thanks to previously unknown reserves being discovered…and previously unexploited technologies being utilized (leveraging fracking to extract shale gas, tight gas, and coalbed methane). According to research compiled by BP, global proven gas reserves in 2016 were 186.6 trillion cubic meters, sufficient to meet more than 50 years of current production.
Accordingly, today’s natural gas applications are extremely diverse. For example, within the industrial and power-generation sectors, applications include heat generation, electricity generation, incineration, drying, food processing, and chemical feedstock for manufacturing processes, as well as production of hydrogen for the fuel cell market through the use of steam reformers.
... to continue reading you must be subscribed
