Natural Resources and Population

Did you know that Earth’s supply of natural gas is changing due to human consumption?
The supply of natural gas is changing because it's nonrenewable and it contributes to around one
fourth of the energy consumption of the nation. Natural gas is the mixture of vapors that result from
the decomposition of plant and animal materials over millions of years. Natural gas, along with oil
and coal, is a fossil fuel that is found in many underground places in North America. The
characteristics of natural gas make it a cleaner, more efficient and less expensive energy source than
gas, oil, or coal. Since natural gas is a hydrocarbon, it is 2.6 percent cleaner than fuel oil. Natural
gas is also a vital component of the world's supply of energy. First, it has become one of the
principle sources of energy for many of our day-to-day needs and activities. Next, it is one of the
cleanest and safest of all energy sources. Lastly, it is a vital part of being able to obtain a low carbon
economy.

Out of all the fossil fuels, natural gas is one of the most widely used nonrenewable natural
resources. A non-renewable resource is something that is not being replaced as we consume it.
Natural gas is a good example of a non-renewable resource. Natural gas is used to produce steel,
glass, paper, clothing, brick, and electricity. It is an essential raw material for many common
products such as paints, fertilizer, plastics, antifreeze, dyes, photographic film, medicines, and
explosives. Slightly more than half of the homes in the United States use natural gas as their main
heating fuel. Natural gas is also used in homes to fuel stoves, water heaters, clothes dryers, and other
household appliances. If we are not careful, we have the potential to use up the natural gas faster
than it could ever be replaced. Once it is used up from the earth, it's gone. We can't wait millions of
years for some more.

Natural gas has many qualities that make it an efficient, relatively clean, and economical
energy source. Natural gas is a fossil fuel that has become more widely used over coal and oil.
Natural gas is non toxic and can be delivered through pipelines a lot safer than bottled gas. When
burning natural gas for energy, it results in much fewer emissions of nearly all types of air pollutants
and carbon dioxide (CO2). Natural gas creates significantly smaller environmental impacts than
coal. On a Btu basis, natural gas combustion generates about half as much carbon dioxide, or CO2,
as coal making it a clean and safe energy source. In addition, because natural gas is so efficient, it
accounts for one fourth of the energy used in the United States. Natural gas also heats over 51
percent of U.S households and meets 24 percent U.S. energy demand. By burning natural gas,
you're producing 30 percent less carbon dioxide which once again makes it an efficient energy
source used by cars, trucks, and buses to reduce emissions. Gas can replace oil in transportation,
most beneficially through the production of power for electric vehicles or hybrids. Because electric
motors are so much more efficient than the internal combustion engine, cars that run on electricity
from natural gas reduce greenhouse gas emissions far more than cars than run on natural gas itself.

The use of natural gas has greatly increased our country to think about adopting a low carbon
energy plan which would ultimately help our economy. With global warning on the rise and our
Earth at major risk for climate change, we now have to look at how we use these precious resources.
Coal can be replaced by cleaner-burning gas in the production of electricity at much larger scale than
previously thought. The oldest, dirtiest coal plants should be shut down immediately for human
health reasons alone. Switching from coal to gas cuts carbon dioxide emissions roughly in half, a
major global warming benefit. There is plenty of underused gas generation available, and it is far
quicker, cheaper, and easier to install a new gas turbine than any other alternative.

The supply of natural gas is constantly changing because of human consumption. The facts
supports the recommendation of switching to using natural gas because it is cleaner, more efficient,
and less expensive than gas or coal. In addition, natural gas has become important in supplying
energy for so many of our day-to-day needs and activities such as fuel stoves, water heaters, clothes
dryers, and other household appliances. With the country becoming aware of global warming and
climate change, natural gas will play a positive part in helping this country obtain a low carbon
economy. Natural gas is very important to the human race, but if we don’t use it wisely we won’t
have any natural gas left or natural resources.

Work Cited

http://www.naturalgas.org/index.asp

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/why.shtml

http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=natural_gas_home-basics

http://www.api.org/aboutoilgas/

http://www.unctad.org/infocomm/anglais/gas/characteristics.htm

http://www.statoil.com/en/NewsAndMedia/News/2009/Pages/13DecNatural
GasImportant.aspx