Drivers

Emissions
The Cal Climate Action Partnership (CalCAP) goal to reduce GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2014.

The Environmental Protection Agency moved Tuesday (July 6, 2010) to dramatically curb power plant emissions across the central US and East Coast, a step the federal agency says will significantly reduce health and pollution impacts across that 31-state region.

Responding to a 2008 court ruling, the EPA proposed sharp cuts in emissions from some 900 coal-, natural gas-, and oil-burning power plants – a 52 percent reduction in nitrous oxide (NOX) and 71 percent cut in sulfur dioxide (SOX) by 2014. 

Cleanest burning fossil fuel 
Natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel, producing primarily carbon dioxide, water vapor and small amounts of nitrogen oxides.  

Greenest source for electric
The Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit outfit in California that represents the majority of electricity producers in America, ranks natural gas as greenest electricity source. (Nov 2010)

The graphic ranks various electricity generation sources by their impact on water, land, flexibility in powering on and off, carbon emissions and some other factors. According to the chart, the "greenest" electricity comes from natural gas fired plants, followed by hydroelectric, then geothermal, then wind and nuclear.

Substitution and Legislation Create Demand
Promoting new uses for natural gas, primarily through substitution for other fuels, is the best way to boost overall demand at this point. One big potential conversion-based source of demand is the electric power industry. It could be convinced to switch from coal to natural gas by incentives contained in U.S. climate legislation. Natural gas produces 50% less carbon emissions than coal, and the switch could open up a market for an additional 125 billion cubic feet of gas per year.  
Coal Power Plants (Ontario)
If all proceeds according to plan, Ontario will be completely coal-free by the year 2014.
By replacing coal with renewable energy sources and with non-renewable but cleaner burning natural gas, Ontario will take a major strain off its healthcare system.  

Carbon Credits
The global carbon emissions trading market, ABI forecasts, will reach $395 billion in 2014, more than three times the $118 billion in allowances traded in 2008. 

Power generation (driven by carbon market)
Another spur for demand could be the global warming issue, namely the adoption of a cap-and-trade regime to contain carbon emissions. "There will be a huge incentive for utilities that generate electricity from coal to convert to natural gas," said ranking Republican member James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin. "That's going to increase the demand for natural gas and put pressure on prices."  


Products from natural gas
Typical Composition of Natural Gas 
Methane CH4 70-90% 
Ethane C2H6 0-20% 
Propane C3H8 
Butane C4H10 
Carbon Dioxide CO2 0-8% 
Oxygen O2 0-0.2% 
Nitrogen N2 0-5% 
Hydrogen sulphide H2S 0-5% 
Rare gases A, He, Ne, Xe trace

Natural gas processing 
Natural gas from gas and condensate wells, in which there is little or no crude oil, is termed 'nonassociated gas'. Gas wells typically produce raw natural gas by itself, while condensate wells produce free natural gas along with a semi-liquid hydrocarbon condensate. Whatever the source of the natural gas, once separated from crude oil (if present) it commonly exists in mixtures with other hydrocarbons; principally ethane, propane, butane, and pentanes. In addition, raw natural gas contains water vapor, hydrogen sulfide (H2S), carbon dioxide, helium, nitrogen, and other compounds. 

Natural gas processing consists of separating all of the various hydrocarbons and fluids from the pure natural gas, to produce what is known as 'pipeline quality' dry natural gas. Major transportation pipelines usually impose restrictions on the make-up of the natural gas that is allowed into the pipeline. That means that before the natural gas can be transported it must be purified. While the ethane, propane, butane, and pentanes must be removed from natural gas, this does not mean that they are all 'waste products'. 

In fact, associated hydrocarbons, known as 'natural gas liquids' (NGLs) can be very valuable by-products of natural gas processing. NGLs include ethane, propane, butane, iso-butane, and natural gasoline. These NGLs are sold separately and have a variety of different uses; including enhancing oil recovery in oil wells, providing raw materials for oil refineries or petrochemical plants, and as sources of energy. 

Gas to liquid products 
Chains of different lengths have different properties, making a range of GTL products:

GTL Base oils 
GTL Base oils are an alternative starting point for the manufacture of finished lubricants, that keep vehicle engines, gearboxes and transmissions operating smoothly. 

GTL Gasoil 
GTL Gasoil is an alternative and economic diesel-type fuel that will contribute to the diversification of diesel fuel supply. It can be blended easily with conventional, oil-based diesel and used in the existing diesel distribution system.  GTL Gasoil can also be used by refineries to upgrade heavier fuel products. This is because of two of its technical properties – it has a lower density and higher cetane number than conventional diesel. A further characteristic is that it burns with lower sulphur dioxide, lower nitrogen oxides and particulate emissions than conventional oil-based diesel. This means that if used at higher concentrations it can be attractive for improving local air quality. One company has already trialed 100% GTL gasoil with a number of city bus and taxi fleets.

GTL Kerosene 
GTL Kerosene can be used for heating and lighting but its main use will most likely be for aviation, helping to diversify the aviation fuel supply. It was recently approved for use in aviation in a blend of up to 50% with conventional oil-based jet fuel. A characteristic of GTL Kerosene is that it burns with lower sulphur dioxide, lower nitrogen oxides and particulate emissions than conventional oil-based kerosene. If used at higher concentrations it can be attractive for improving air quality at busy airports. A Qatar Airways Airbus A340 made the first commercial passenger flight using a 50-50 blend of GTL and conventional jet fuel in October 2009. The finished product blend is known as GTL Jet Fuel.

GTL Normal Paraffin 
GTL Normal Paraffin is used in the production of detergents such as washing powder and soap. Traditionally detergent manufacturing companies extract conventional normal paraffin from oil-based kerosene and return the remaining kerosene to refineries. GTL Normal Paraffin eliminates this extraction step and so offers companies cost and location advantages.

GTL Naphtha 
GTL Naphtha is an alternative feedstock for chemicals plants that make the building blocks for plastics. It has a much higher paraffin content than conventional naphtha, which means each litre of GTL Naphtha can produce more plastics.