Coal Vs Natural Gas

Natural gas is a growing industry around the world including the United States. This expanding production, consumption, transportation, and usage of this fairly new energy source will cause many consequences. It will affect a variety of things, whether it be big businesses, small businesses, nature, and everyday citizens.

One of the biggest hurdles of today's energy production is to reduce greenhouse gases. Natural gas is much better than CO2 at containing heat. It does not produce as much greenhouse gas as coal which helps the environment. This gas is extracted through a process called fracking. However, when using this process, leaks can occur, in turn polluting underground water systems that are used in people's homes. Companies such as

Natural gas, coal, and oil dominate the energy industry. In 2012, global subsidies had oil, with 277 billion dollars, natural gas, with 124 billion, and coal, with 7 billion. But some of these energy sources are better than others. Burning natural gas, for instance, produces nearly half as much carbon dioxide per unit of energy compared with coal according to the Smithsonian (“Natural Gas Really Is Better Than Coal”). Natural gas is also better at reducing greenhouse gases than coal. In fact, compared to coal, depending on the application, natural gas allows 50% to 80% reduction of greenhouse gases. According to a 2017 study done by AGA (American Gas Association) is the lowest since 1967. There are over 160,000 vehicles in the US that run on natural gas and 5.4 million world wide. 5.4 million businesses and schools use natural gas in the

“The EDF analysis estimates that the state's oil and gas wells and infrastructure leak more than 520,000 tons of methane annually, largely due to faulty equipment”(Far More Methane Leaking at Oil, Gas Sites in Pennsylvania than Reported). This means that natural gas is a big contributor to global warming. When drilling for natural gas, chemicals can leak into underground water systems getting into peoples water supply. This happens when the companies shoot millions of gallons of chemicals into a well to extract the gas and accidently puncture the bedrock making a crack. This leakage of methane can also be caused by transporting the gas. The Natural Gas Act of 1938 was made to prevent already corrupt companies, that extract natural gas, from charging high prices to their customers. With the new tarifs, natural gas extracted in the US will not be able to meet the prices that China and other countries are importing