As you may know, natural gas is a fossil fuel that we use for energy in our homes and businesses. It is known as one of the cleanest burning fossil fuels because it gives off half as much carbon dioxide than coal when burned. That makes natural gas a good option for your energy needs. However, you may be wondering about the supply and demand for natural gas and how that all works.
One great thing about natural gas is that after it is extracted from the Earth, it doesn’t have to be used right away. Natural gas is something that can be stored until it is needed. This is important because natural gas is more in demand during winter months because it is often used in heating systems and furnaces. Storage of natural gas can help us to avoid running out of natural gas in the event of an unforeseen accident or natural disaster that could affect the production of natural gas.
How is Natural Gas Stored?
Natural gas is usually stored underground in large storage reservoirs. There are three main types of storage for natural gas underground: depleted gas reservoirs, aquifers and salt caverns. In addition to these three storage options, natural gas can also be stored as liquefied natural gas (LNG). LNG is an interesting storage solution as it allows natural gas to take up less space because it is in a liquid form.
Depleted gas reservoirs are the most common form of underground natural gas storage. This is a space where natural gas has already been extracted from. These reservoirs are already capable of holding natural gas because they have before, so this makes them cheap and easy to use and maintain.
Aquifers are more expensive and less desirable as storage for natural gas because there are some unknowns when it comes to them and they are expensive and take a lot of time to make them into adequate storage.
Salt caverns are a very resilient storage option. They can be expensive to make suitable for storage, but they are a great option because they have great conditions to store natural gas.
Natural gas is a great source of energy. One of the many reasons for this is because it can be stored safely until it is needed. For other questions about natural gas, feel free to contact us!