New Technologies and
the Role of Natural Gas
The international climate change policy process is
likely to produce powerful market incentives for businesses
to invest in cleaner technologies and increased efficiencies.
Successful industry leaders will be those that capture
this opportunity.
Several new technologies in the natural gas industry
have emerged in recent years as a result of this market
trend. One such technology is combined-cycle power
plants. Conventional power plants use coal and oil
to produce the steam that turns the turbines, which
produce power. Gas turbines can be directly powered
by natural gas. Exhaust heat is captured and used
to produce steam for additional power production.
Combined-cycle technology can increase the efficiency
of a fossil fuel from an average of 40% to over 80%,
thereby reducing emissions of atmospheric pollutants.
Acid gas re-injection is also increasing efficiencies
in the production of natural gas. Processing of raw
gas involves stripping the gas of hydrogen sulphide
and most of its carbon dioxide content to produce
marketable gas. The most common traditional method
of handling these by-products, referred to as acid
gas, is to convert it to elemental sulphur, which
is then pelletized. Injection of the acid gas into
a suitable underground formation, such as a depleted
reservoir, is gaining recognition as a method of significantly
reducing emissions.
Hydrogen fuel cells are a promising new innovation
that could potentially replace internal combustion
engines, which emit harmful air emissions. In order
for fuel cells to capture their full environmental
advantage, the hydrogen they require would have to
be derived from a renewable energy source, which is
not yet economically feasible. Once again, considering
the emissions produced by current available sources
of hydrogen, there is a clear advantage to using hydrogen
from natural gas for this and other future hydrogen-based
technologies. Methane (CH4) has a distinct hydrogen-rich
molecular structure, which seems to make it well prepared
for becoming a hydrogen carrier as well, as we move
from the present combustion technologies to future
hydrogen technologies.
