Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 6.5
Distribution of world reserves of natural gas
Country
Percentage of world reserves
Russia
25.2
Iran
15.7
Qatar
14.4
Saudi Arabia
4.0
United Arab Emirates
3.4
United States
3.4
Nigeria
3.0
Venezuela
2.9
Algeria
2.5
Iraq
1.8
Indonesia
1.7
Norway
1.7
Turkmenistan
1.5
Malaysia
1.4
Australia
1.4
Egypt
1.2
Kazakhstan
1.1
China
1.1
Uzbekistan
1.0
Kuwait
1.0
Canada
0.9
Others
11.7
Source: British Petroleum (BP Statistical Review of Energy, 2008).
Natural gas is a relatively clean fossil fuel because methane combus-
tion yields fewer pollutants than either oil or coal, with markedly lower
emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur, and particulates.
Compared with coal, natural gas allows a 50 to 80 percent reduction in
greenhouse gas emissions, depending on application. It could serve as a
transition fuel until nonpolluting sources of energy come online. In addi-
tion to its use as a fuel in power plants for generating electricity, natural
gas is used to make cleaner transportation fuels such as ultra-low-sulfur
diesel, and is used in the manufacture of artifi cial fertilizer to grow crops,
some of which are used in ethanol production. It is currently the source
of hydrogen in fuel cells for cars.
There is not yet an organization for natural gas like OPEC for petro-
leum, but an informal group of natural gas producers, the Gas Exporting
Search WWH ::




Custom Search