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Why did natural gas not topple oil from the throne of energy?
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For a hundred years, oil has been undisputed on the throne of global energy sources. Its strategic importance is great, as it is the decisive factor in wars and the engine of the economy in peacetime, and this was not due to the huge amount of energy it supplies only, as the net energy contained in the total world consumption of oil is less than 40% of The global energy mix, but its importance comes from the flexibility of using that energy in transporting and storing it, in addition to the ease of moving the means of transport that drive the economy and move people and goods around the world.
On the other hand, natural gas constitutes a relatively cheap fuel with high energy density when liquefied, and its emissions rate is 28% lower than oil when obtaining the same amount of energy. Today, the world consumes 141.2 million bottles (one million standard cubic feet of gas) equivalent to 24.34 billion barrels of oil annually. While the world consumes 36 billion barrels of oil annually, 65% of it is used as fuel for various means of transportation and to operate construction and agricultural equipment, i.e. up to 23.4 billion barrels annually. As for the price, it is LNG Liquid Natural GasMuch cheaper than oil, as 30 liters of gasoline costs an average of 30 dollars that contains approximately one million British thermal units, at the same time, 1,000 cubic feet of gas also contains one million British thermal units that can be liquefied to be 47.2 liters of liquefied gas, its cost does not exceed 10 dollars, so We may ask why natural gas has not captured a large portion of the global transportation fuel market? Why was its use as fuel restricted to a very limited number of cars, trucks and ships? While we have not seen a train, a plane, or a gas-powered bulldozer, here I will answer these questions in detail.
First, natural gas as an energy source is new to the world, despite the increase in its use since the sixties of the last century, but the large production development operations did not start until the nineties and it was mostly consumed locally within the same country, as the global natural gas trade until 1990 did not exceed 15% Of the world’s total consumption of natural gas, more than 97% of it is transported through pipelines as dry gas, and its use was limited to the industrial field and for heating. Therefore, a well-established oil industry was found before it, with its fields, refineries, markets, ports, tankers, pipelines, fuel filling stations, equipment that operates them, and transportation means. Which was adapted and designed to suit the work in it, so it was not easy to change this huge infrastructure that people are accustomed to and economies have adapted to. Not enough liquefied gasThere is no popular acceptance of it, but in the field of air transport, the issue is more complex. The design of a successful commercial aircraft is expensive and companies do not do it constantly. Some aircraft designs have remained unchanged for up to 50 years, so these companies do not risk an expensive gas plane project that travelers are afraid of and companies are reluctant to operate. It is also not received by airports due to the lack of gaseous infrastructure in them.
Secondly, natural gas is difficult to deal with with transportation and storage, so let's say we need pipes, and these pipes are limited in their distances, which restricts the possibility of transportation. Gas pipes need larger diameters than their oil counterparts due to the low density, and this raises their cost and reduces the amount of gas transported through them as an amount of energy if we compare them with what they transport Oil pipelines, and this is what leads us to liquefy gas so that it can be loaded on tankers and exported, and this makes liquefaction the decisive factor in the matter. Gas liquefaction is difficult and requires complex and expensive cooling facilities to cool it to -162 degrees Celsius, this liquefaction process consumes 20% of gas energy, then it can be loaded This liquefied gas is in gas tankers whose tanks usually consist of two layers of thick steel interspersed with insulators or a vacuum medium to maintain a reasonable degree of cooling and prevent the increase in pressure resulting from external heat, which causes a great danger. Despite this, this gas needs a minimum cooling for the tank shell In some atmospheres to ensure safety, soThe liquefaction and transportation processes require a lot of energy, in addition to expensive facilities and ships that operate within the highest safety standards (the construction of a gas tanker costs 200-300 million dollars), and when that tanker reaches its destination in ports designated for gas with the highest levels of safety, it is preferable to be far from others. From ports or cities to unload its cargo and store it in tanks, preferably underground, to ensure its safety and not be exposed to any heat, and when it is needed to transport it away from the ports, it is necessary to use pipes, which are often exposed and composed of one layer that cannot maintain the pressure and temperature of liquid gas, Therefore, the liquefied gas is returned to its gaseous statePorts or cities to unload their cargo and are stored in tanks, preferably underground, to ensure their safety and not be exposed to any heat. The liquefied gas is returned to its gaseous statePorts or cities to unload their cargo and are stored in tanks, preferably underground, to ensure their safety and not be exposed to any heat. The liquefied gas is returned to its gaseous stateregasification in special facilities to be pumped into the pipes that take it to its final destination, and then if we want to use it as transportation fuel, it must be liquefied again in costly facilities that consume energy, and we return to losing another 20% of its energy, so the large energy loss in addition to safety measures and high safety standards makes it undesirable as transportation fuel.
Third, the gas liquefaction process has expanded during the current century with the growth of liquefied gas trade and consumption globally, and it is limited due to the huge initial investments that it requires, as the cost of the liquefaction facility is approximately $1.5 billion for each facility that produces one million tons of liquefied gas annually. The world annually does not exceed 400 million tons, which is equivalent to 1.6 billion barrels of oil. Therefore, it cannot be relied upon as a fuel, and this leads to the fear and hesitation of manufacturers of equipment and transportation means of offering gas-powered products because the market for their sale will be very limited, which leads to a high possibility of loss.
All of these factors, the most important of which are the limited possibilities of global liquefaction, led to the contentment with transferring the majority of the global gas trade through pipelines, where the international trade of natural gas today represents 30% of its total global consumption, which made natural gas limited to some activities such as electricity generation, where 35% of it is used to generate electricity. 24% of global electricity annually, amounting to 6,600 TWh. Gas turbines work in an excellent complementary manner with renewable energies (solar and wind) due to their speed of response as they can be operated to reach peak production in only 15 minutes, while extinguishing them requires approximately the same time, 30% of natural gas The world consumes it as fuel for heating and cooking, another 30% of natural gas is consumed as a raw material for a number of industries, the most important of which is for the production of ammonia, which is used in the manufacture of fertilizers and for the operation of some factories (usually heavy industries such as aluminum, steel and cement) directly, while 5% of gas is consumed as transportation fuel within them. Operation of pipelines.
Therefore, we find that a small number of ships are designed to run on gas because they transport gas or because gas is usually available in many ports around the world. As for cars, trucks or buses, their numbers remain limited, subject to the local policies of a particular country that encourages its acquisition due to the availability of liquefied gas or Ensuring stable supplies (usually near ports), but this remains limited and linked to the availability of filling stations that feed it along its routes.
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For a hundred years, oil has been undisputed on the throne of global energy sources. Its strategic importance is great, as it is the decisive factor in wars and the engine of the economy in peacetime, and this was not due to the huge amount of energy it supplies only, as the net energy contained in the total world consumption of oil is less than 40% of The global energy mix, but its importance comes from the flexibility of using that energy in transporting and storing it, in addition to the ease of moving the means of transport that drive the economy and move people and goods around the world.
On the other hand, natural gas constitutes a relatively cheap fuel with high energy density when liquefied, and its emissions rate is 28% lower than oil when obtaining the same amount of energy. Today, the world consumes 141.2 million bottles (one million standard cubic feet of gas) equivalent to 24.34 billion barrels of oil annually. While the world consumes 36 billion barrels of oil annually, 65% of it is used as fuel for various means of transportation and to operate construction and agricultural equipment, i.e. up to 23.4 billion barrels annually. As for the price, it is LNG Liquid Natural GasMuch cheaper than oil, as 30 liters of gasoline costs an average of 30 dollars that contains approximately one million British thermal units, at the same time, 1,000 cubic feet of gas also contains one million British thermal units that can be liquefied to be 47.2 liters of liquefied gas, its cost does not exceed 10 dollars, so We may ask why natural gas has not captured a large portion of the global transportation fuel market? Why was its use as fuel restricted to a very limited number of cars, trucks and ships? While we have not seen a train, a plane, or a gas-powered bulldozer, here I will answer these questions in detail.
First, natural gas as an energy source is new to the world, despite the increase in its use since the sixties of the last century, but the large production development operations did not start until the nineties and it was mostly consumed locally within the same country, as the global natural gas trade until 1990 did not exceed 15% Of the world’s total consumption of natural gas, more than 97% of it is transported through pipelines as dry gas, and its use was limited to the industrial field and for heating. Therefore, a well-established oil industry was found before it, with its fields, refineries, markets, ports, tankers, pipelines, fuel filling stations, equipment that operates them, and transportation means. Which was adapted and designed to suit the work in it, so it was not easy to change this huge infrastructure that people are accustomed to and economies have adapted to. Not enough liquefied gasThere is no popular acceptance of it, but in the field of air transport, the issue is more complex. The design of a successful commercial aircraft is expensive and companies do not do it constantly. Some aircraft designs have remained unchanged for up to 50 years, so these companies do not risk an expensive gas plane project that travelers are afraid of and companies are reluctant to operate. It is also not received by airports due to the lack of gaseous infrastructure in them.
Secondly, natural gas is difficult to deal with with transportation and storage, so let's say we need pipes, and these pipes are limited in their distances, which restricts the possibility of transportation. Gas pipes need larger diameters than their oil counterparts due to the low density, and this raises their cost and reduces the amount of gas transported through them as an amount of energy if we compare them with what they transport Oil pipelines, and this is what leads us to liquefy gas so that it can be loaded on tankers and exported, and this makes liquefaction the decisive factor in the matter. Gas liquefaction is difficult and requires complex and expensive cooling facilities to cool it to -162 degrees Celsius, this liquefaction process consumes 20% of gas energy, then it can be loaded This liquefied gas is in gas tankers whose tanks usually consist of two layers of thick steel interspersed with insulators or a vacuum medium to maintain a reasonable degree of cooling and prevent the increase in pressure resulting from external heat, which causes a great danger. Despite this, this gas needs a minimum cooling for the tank shell In some atmospheres to ensure safety, soThe liquefaction and transportation processes require a lot of energy, in addition to expensive facilities and ships that operate within the highest safety standards (the construction of a gas tanker costs 200-300 million dollars), and when that tanker reaches its destination in ports designated for gas with the highest levels of safety, it is preferable to be far from others. From ports or cities to unload its cargo and store it in tanks, preferably underground, to ensure its safety and not be exposed to any heat, and when it is needed to transport it away from the ports, it is necessary to use pipes, which are often exposed and composed of one layer that cannot maintain the pressure and temperature of liquid gas, Therefore, the liquefied gas is returned to its gaseous statePorts or cities to unload their cargo and are stored in tanks, preferably underground, to ensure their safety and not be exposed to any heat. The liquefied gas is returned to its gaseous statePorts or cities to unload their cargo and are stored in tanks, preferably underground, to ensure their safety and not be exposed to any heat. The liquefied gas is returned to its gaseous stateregasification in special facilities to be pumped into the pipes that take it to its final destination, and then if we want to use it as transportation fuel, it must be liquefied again in costly facilities that consume energy, and we return to losing another 20% of its energy, so the large energy loss in addition to safety measures and high safety standards makes it undesirable as transportation fuel.
Third, the gas liquefaction process has expanded during the current century with the growth of liquefied gas trade and consumption globally, and it is limited due to the huge initial investments that it requires, as the cost of the liquefaction facility is approximately $1.5 billion for each facility that produces one million tons of liquefied gas annually. The world annually does not exceed 400 million tons, which is equivalent to 1.6 billion barrels of oil. Therefore, it cannot be relied upon as a fuel, and this leads to the fear and hesitation of manufacturers of equipment and transportation means of offering gas-powered products because the market for their sale will be very limited, which leads to a high possibility of loss.
All of these factors, the most important of which are the limited possibilities of global liquefaction, led to the contentment with transferring the majority of the global gas trade through pipelines, where the international trade of natural gas today represents 30% of its total global consumption, which made natural gas limited to some activities such as electricity generation, where 35% of it is used to generate electricity. 24% of global electricity annually, amounting to 6,600 TWh. Gas turbines work in an excellent complementary manner with renewable energies (solar and wind) due to their speed of response as they can be operated to reach peak production in only 15 minutes, while extinguishing them requires approximately the same time, 30% of natural gas The world consumes it as fuel for heating and cooking, another 30% of natural gas is consumed as a raw material for a number of industries, the most important of which is for the production of ammonia, which is used in the manufacture of fertilizers and for the operation of some factories (usually heavy industries such as aluminum, steel and cement) directly, while 5% of gas is consumed as transportation fuel within them. Operation of pipelines.
Therefore, we find that a small number of ships are designed to run on gas because they transport gas or because gas is usually available in many ports around the world. As for cars, trucks or buses, their numbers remain limited, subject to the local policies of a particular country that encourages its acquisition due to the availability of liquefied gas or Ensuring stable supplies (usually near ports), but this remains limited and linked to the availability of filling stations that feed it along its routes.
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