Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Other Petroleum Products
About 5 percent of petroleum in the United States is used to manufacture
things we use every day, such as plastics, house paint, toothpaste, dispos-
able diapers, pills, lipstick, clothing, deodorants, DVDs, credit cards,
shoes, rugs, computer and television screens, mattresses, and tires. It is not
clear how these would be manufactured without petroleum as a feed-
stock. But because petroleum production at some level will no doubt con-
tinue far into the future, a solution to this problem is not a pressing issue.
Natural Gas: Better Than Petroleum
Natural gas is 96 percent methane (CH
4
) and supplies 24 percent of the
energy used in the United States and 23 percent of its electric power;
industry uses the largest amount (fi gure 6.5). We produce 84 percent of
our needs and import 16 percent but as was the case with petroleum,
the percentage imported has increased steadily; it was only 4.7 percent
in 1987.
16
Prices have quadrupled between 1995 and 2008. We use 27
percent of the world's production. Russia is the Saudi Arabia of natural
gas, with more than a quarter of the world's reserves (table 6.5).
Industrial
27%
Residential
21%
Electric power
30%
Commercial
14%
Oil and gas industry operations
5%
Vehicle fuel
< 1%
Pipeline fuel
3%
Figure 6.5
Use of natural gas in the United States, 2008. (Energy Information Administration, 2009)
