This blog was originally posted by Croft employee Jessica Lee back in 2015. I decided to revise this blog because just like Jessica back in 2015 when she wrote this blog, I am now new to the oil and gas industry.
I really am amazed with all the stuff I’ve learned and all the different niches there are in just one industry. I have been amazed with all the things I have learned, and continue to learn every day. So, I felt it was fitting to share these ten fun facts about natural gas, you never know you might learn something new today too.
1. Oooo that smell. Don’t you smell that smell? (Thanks Lynyrd Skynyrd!)
So natural gas is a fossil fuel that is colorless and odorless. However, I know that you have smelt natural gas before. You know…that nasty rotten egg smell? Whether it was when you turned on a gas stove or smelt it outside, it is not a fun odor to smell. I know what you are thinking…I JUST said that natural gas is odorless, so how does it have a smell? The answer…Mercaptan! Mercaptan is a colorless gas with an unpleasant smell that is added to natural gas for safety reasons. This is how you are able to detect if there is a natural gas leak…you are actually smelling the mercaptan!
2. The first-time natural gas was discovered, it was an actual flame seeping from the ground that was ignited by lightening. Native Americans found lighting gasses that were seeping into Lake Erie.
3. The first natural gas pipelines were made out of bamboo. Today, if we were to connect all of the natural gas pipelines, it would stretch to the moon and back almost three times!
4. As for America, Colonel Edwin Drake dug the first well 69 feet in Pennsylvania to find natural gas and oil. To put it into perspective, todays wells can be 30,000 feet deep.
5. In the world, there are over 11 million vehicles that run on natural gas.
6. Did you know that normal everyday items are made out of natural gas? Such as sunglasses, deodorant, cell phones, carpet, and heart valves just to name a few.
7. When burned, natural gas produces less than half of CO2 emissions that coal does.
8. When natural gas is cooled to negative 260 degrees Fahrenheit, it becomes a liquid which reduces the volume 615 times!
9. In Las Vegas, a volcano erupts in front of the MGM Mirage Hotel every hour in the evening. Guess what it is fueled by? Not only natural gas but pina colada scented!
10. Jobs! Most of us can relate to this one. In America, there are about four million people employed in the natural gas industry. Wow!
Hopefully, you learned something new on this one. It is always fun for me to learn something new and get educated about my industry. There is so much to learn!
http://www.forbes.com/sites/statoil/2015/01/12/16-amazing-facts-about-natural-gas/
http://www.spectraenergy.com/Natural-Gas-101/Natural-Gas-Facts/Fun-Facts-on-Natural-Gas/
http://www.ingaa.org/cms/15915.aspx
http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/blog/2013/03/jacksonville-truck-companies-taking.html
http://exitclick.blogspot.com/2011_12_01_archive.html
http://www.jwemc.org/gas-safety/
