Natural gas is versatile and abundant as its supply is increasing. Natural gas has multiple uses; it plays a role in industry, electricity, and transportation. Hydraulic fracturing allows for natural gas production in areas such as China, India, and the Unites States where natural gas is not found. Although many scientists are okay with natural gas usage, they do not support fracking. Currently, fracking is taking place on a larger scale which raises the concern of water contamination. Natural gas is a greenhouse gas 20 times stronger than carbon dioxide. However, it serves as cheap source of energy which can help reduce our carbon emissions in comparison to coal and oil. Oil has caused large economic development by serving as a great transportation fuel. Other than transportation, oil can also be used for heating and power production. Although oil is relatively cheap, billions of dollars are spent in attempt to stabilize oil regions each year. Oil has environmental costs such as oil spills, smog, air pollution, and CO2 emissions. The largest challenge with oil is that it is our only transport fuel which means that it has large economic influence. The solution is to diversify transportation fuels. While oil has built our success in the 20th century, our prosperity now will depend on diversifying transportation fuels . Coal is is accessible since it is easy to mine, store, and convert to electricity. This makes coal electricity the cheapest in the world. Coal’s inexpensive price is its greatest advantage. Coal can help lift developing countries out of poverty, but it has many drawbacks. Coal mining is dangerous, and coal burning produces large amounts of pollutants. In fact, burning coal produces about half of all CO2 emissions. Overall, coal is cheap but has negative environmental impacts.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
May 2017
Categories |