Gas Transportation 101
What is natural gas? Natural gas is comprised of hydrocarbon gases, primarily methane (one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms — CH4), and is found far below the earth’s surface, formed from organic material over millions of years. Natural gas is a cleaner burning fossil fuel.
What is natural gas?
Natural gas is more complex than you might think. It’s actually primarily composed of a mixture of four naturally occurring gases that have different molecular structures. These gasses are used for an amazing variety of purposes in our modern lives.
Natural gas primarily consists of:
- Methane
Ethane
Butane
Propane
How large is our supply?
Domestic natural gas production has grown 20% in just the past few years and we are now the world’s largest producer. It’s estimated that we have a 100-year supply of natural gas.
How is it used?
Electricity generation: 25% of the nation’s electricity is generated by natural gas. The Energy Information Administration expects that 46% of the new generating capacity added to the grid by 2035 will come from natural gas.
Transportation: There are more than 120,000 natural gas vehicles on American roads. That number is expected to grow. Natural gas has become an increasingly popular fuel for bus and truck fleets.
Heating: More than 50% of American homes use natural gas to efficiently provide heat, hot water and fuel for cooking.
Manufacturing: Natural gas is used to generate process steam for industrial applications like the production of steel and paper. It’s also used as a feedstock for petrochemicals – the building blocks of plastics, fertilizers, synthetic fibers, cosmetics and even
medicines.
96% of the manufactured goods we use every day contain products that were made possible with natural gas
feedstock.
Our abundance of natural gas is expected to generate 1 million new American manufacturing jobs by 2025.
Role Of Natural Gas
Transportation
What is the role of natural gas transportation in the overall natural gas usage picture? The natural gas industry is considered to be broken down into four main sectors: production, gathering and processing, transportation and distribution. Natural gas transportation plays a vital role in making natural gas a fuel source able to be used by providing a link between sellers and buyers.
Production: Process of taking raw natural gas from underground formations.
Gathering and Processing: Process of stripping out impurities and other hydrocarbons and fluids to produce pipeline-quality natural gas (95-98 percent methane).
Transportation: Process of delivering natural gas from a wellhead and processing plants to city gate stations or industrial/electric power generation end users.
Distribution: Process of delivering natural gas from city gate stations to end users (for example, residential and commercial users).
A natural gas transporter like Eastern Shore Natural Gas transports natural gas for delivery to either end use customers, which use the natural gas in their processes (for example industrial customers or electric power generators) or to local distribution companies, which distribute the natural gas to end use customers via low pressure distribution lines.
Where Are Natural Gas Mainlines Found?
Most mainlines are buried underground in a vast network of large-diameter pipes called mains (Eastern Shore’s mains range from 6 inches to 16 inches in diameter). These mains are located across the United States and allow for seamless delivery from the origin point to the end user’s delivery point (select the button below for a map showing the U.S. pipeline network as of the end of 2009). Occasionally, mains are located above ground, as with Eastern Shore’s pipeline bridge over the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.
Besides Mainlines, What Other Facilities Are Needed To Transport Natural Gas?
Natural gas transporters such as Eastern Shore also maintain compressor stations, metering stations and valves. The SCADA system provides real-time information with regard to the overall operations of the pipeline. SCADA stands for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition.
What Agency Is Responsible For Oversight Of Natural Gas Transportation Pipelines?
Interstate natural gas transportation pipelines, such as Eastern Shore, are regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Any time Eastern Shore wishes to expand its pipeline, it must file for authorization to do so with FERC. Eastern Shore’s rates are also regulated by FERC through periodic rate cases in which just and reasonable base rates are established for a certain time period.
Other specific governmental agencies also play a role in regulating interstate natural gas pipelines. The Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has regulations regarding pipeline safety that are required to be adhered to, including specific requirements regarding pipeline integrity. In addition, emissions at Eastern Shore’s compressor station locations are subject to the regulations of the Environmental Protection Agency.
