Home
About Allianz Knowledge
Sustainable Allianz
Partners
News
Who's Who
eCards
Studies
Take Action
Calendar
Contact
Newsletter
Search
Advanced Search

Gas: The Cleanest Fossil Fuel

Liquefied Natural Gas (1/14)

A view of Hammerfest, the Arctic boom town. The whole town was lit up by a giant 100-meter-high (320 feet) flame erupting from a flare tower at the Snoehvit complex.

Snoehvit, a facility where natural gas is converted to liquid form for easier transportation or storage, is the first facility in the Arctic and Europe to export liquefied natural gas (LNG). LNG produces less pollution than other fossil fuels when being burned. However, the energy needed to transport it at more than 160 degrees Celsius and convert it back to a usable makes LNG a major source of greenhouse gases. (Photo: Reuters)

Image 1 of 14

Gas: The Cleanest Fossil Fuel

From the Bowels of the Earth (2/14)

A gas bubble appears from a mud volcano in Berca village, Romania in October 2007. Mud volcanoes are small volcano-shaped structures that have been formed as mud and volcanic gases from a depth of 3,000 meters rise to the surface. All over the world, natural gas deposits, millions of years old, are locked away under massive layers of stone and sediment. (Photo: Reuters)

Image 2 of 14

Gas: The Cleanest Fossil Fuel

Transportation (3/14)

Gas is being pumped into a car in Lima, Peru. Compressed natural gas, also called autogas, can be used as a cleaner alternative to other automobile fuels such as petrol or diesel.

Although natural gas vehicles are almost as energy efficient as vehicles that run with gasoline, its use is common in only a few countries, including Argentina, Brazil, and India. (Photo: Reuters)

Image 3 of 14

Gas: The Cleanest Fossil Fuel

Flying with Gas (4/14)

An Airbus A380 takes off for a test flight with a mix of 60 percent conventional kerosene and 40 percent synthetic GTL jet fuel made from natural gas in February 2008.

Airbus announced that Qatar Airways might be the first airline to use natural gas GTL fuel in A380s. Qatar has huge reserves of gas, and plans to build a GTL plant. GTL fuels would also contain significantly less carbon dioxide than conventional kerosene. (Photo: Reuters)

Image 4 of 14

Gas: The Cleanest Fossil Fuel

Cooking with Gas (5/14)

A Kashmiri man pushes a handcart with gas cylinders in Srinagar, India. Propane and other forms of gas made from natural gas are important cooking fuels in many developing countries and rural areas. Rising gas prices hit poor nations especially hard. (Photo: Reuters)

Image 5 of 14

Gas: The Cleanest Fossil Fuel

Gas Extraction Canada (6/14)

A worker walks past a gas drilling well east of Calgary, Canada. Canada is the third-largest producer of gas in the world and number one supplier of natural gas imports to the United States.

With the lowest CO2 emissions per unit of energy, natural gas is considered the most environmentally friendly fossil fuel. However, the drilling of holes for exploration and extraction of natural gas leads to relatively high production costs. Many extraction sites also suffer serious environmental damage. (Photo: Reuters)

Image 6 of 14

Gas: The Cleanest Fossil Fuel

Gas Extraction Peru (7/14)

An old train (left) passes by a new one that will run on methane gas in Lima, Peru. A Peruvian rail company converted the first locomotive in the world that will run on natural gas.

The gas comes from the Camisea gas reserves in the Amazon jungle. Camisea is expected to have a number of important economic benefits for Peru. But the gas extraction site in the Amazon basin and the 430-mile gas pipeline to Peru's coast has destroyed large patches of rainforest and polluted local rivers damaging the livelihoods of local native communities. (Photo: Reuters)

Image 7 of 14

Gas: The Cleanest Fossil Fuel

Energy Dependence (8/14)

Russia holds one-third of the world’s known natural gas reserves and owns a major share of the company that controls the world’s largest supply network: Gazprom.

Most European countries depend on Russian gas, which is pumped through a complex network of pipelines leading from Russia to Western Europe. Russia is the origin of 75-100 percent of their gas imports. Stronger competition and further development of Russia’s economy could lower prices, but the Russian government is rather consolidating its grip on oil and gas, pursuing a strategy that could increase Europe's dependence on Russian energy. (Photo: Reuters)

Image 8 of 14

Gas: The Cleanest Fossil Fuel

Europe is Hungry for Gas (9/14)

Gazprom workers prepare to weld a section of a gas pipeline from the enormous Yuzhno Russkoye gas field in northwest Siberia, which will feed the Nord Stream gas pipeline from Russia to Germany.(Photo: Reuters)

Image 9 of 14

Gas: The Cleanest Fossil Fuel

LNG Supertanker (10/14)

The 216,000-cubic-meter Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carrier named "Al Gattara" sails during its trial, off the coast of South Korea. A new generation of supertankers and rising oil and gas prices have made shipment of LNG an interesting alternative where pipelines are not possible. (Photo: Reuters)

Image 10 of 14

Gas: The Cleanest Fossil Fuel

LNG Supertanker (11/14)

Storing liquefied natural gas (LNG) takes up only about 1/600th of the volume of uncompressed natural gas. Storing it needs special high pressure tanks that can cool the gas to approximately −163 °C (−260 °F).

The tank pictured here belongs to at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s (TEPCO) Futtsu Thermal Power Station east of Tokyo. With no domestic gas resources, Japan has been relying on LNG for decades. (Photo: Reuters)

Image 11 of 14

Gas: The Cleanest Fossil Fuel

Wasting Gas and Money (12/14)

World Bank economists estimate that over 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas worth more than 30 billion dollars are wasted annually through flaring or venting. This would be enough to provide Germany and France with gas for one year. Flaring is common in Nigeria, Russia, Iran, and elsewhere. Russia, however, announced it would prohibit flaring in 2008. (Photo: Reuters)

Image 12 of 14

Gas: The Cleanest Fossil Fuel

Greenhouse Gases through Flaring Gas (13/14)

For decades, excess gas from oil wells has been flared or simply vented. Studies have shown, however, that in the 1970s, flaring accounted for roughly two percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, but has now dropped to about half a percent of all man-made carbon dioxide emissions. (Photo: Reuters)

Image 13 of 14

Gas: The Cleanest Fossil Fuel

Targetting Infrastructure (12/14)

A woman and a child wear masks to protect themselves from the fumes rising from an exploded gas pipeline in Mexico in 2007. Leftist rebels attacked the pipes, disrupting oil and natural gas supplies. (Photo: Reuters)

Image 14 of 14

Natural Gas Energy Profile: Russia’s Riches

Natural gas may be the cleanest fossil fuel, but burning it for energy still adds carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. For Russia, the world’s most important producer, gas resources are a ticket back to geopolitical power.

Return to article

Write a Comment

Do you have something interesting to add? Write a comment and discuss this topic with other readers. Comments should be on-topic, non-commercial, and not contain abuse of any kind.

Comment Policy

Please fill in the code

Can't read this?

Salutation*: Mr. Mrs. Ms.

First Name*:

Last Name*:

Your E-Mail*:

Subject*: Your Text*:
Please note that fields marked with asterisk (*) are mandatory.

I would like to receive the Allianz Knowledge Newsletter

I agree to the Allianz Group Privacy Principles and to the Comment Policy*
> See Privacy Principles

Notification by email:

none
If further comments are written
If replies to this comment are written

> Topic Specials

Topic Specials

CLOSE X

Latest Topic Special

> Climate Policy Special

What is the Kyoto Protocol about and why is it so hard to draft a new global climate treaty? To find out, click on this window one more time.

Climate Change
Energy
Microfinance
Demographics
Safety & Health

Most recent Topic Specials

> Genetics & Food Special

> Green Building Special

> Road Safety Special

> Climate Change Special

> Food Security Special

> Climate and Transportation Special

> Climate Solutions Special

> Microfinance Special

> Water Special

> Share this

Energy Special

How long will fossil fuels last? Will oil prices keep on rising? How will China and India power their growing economies? How good is renewable energy?

Knowledge Newsletter

Receive the latest articles, interviews, and graphics

Wind Power (12/08)
Clean Transportation (05/08)

Energy Profiles

Nuclear
Natural Gas
Oil
Water
Solar
Bioenergy
Wind
Coal

Hot Topics

carbon change climate comment countries emissions energy global people percent photo reutersimage warming water world

Sitemap
Imprint
Disclaimer
Terms of Use
Privacy Principles

A to Z

You might also be interested in this:

Why the World Is Addicted to Dirty Coal

Ten Sources of Greenhouse Gases

Global Transportation Growth versus Climate Protection

Natural Gas Energy Profile: Russia’s Riches

Write a Comment

Latest Topic Special

Most recent Topic Specials

Energy Special

Knowledge Newsletter

Energy Profiles

Hot Topics