Environmental Impact of Natural Gas

Drilling and extraction:

Drilling a well can affect wildlife and land use. With this intervention, local ecosystems could collapse:
breaking migration patterns, pollute rivers and streams, causing erosion of dirt and pollutants are all
side-effects of natural gas extraction. Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) can cause earthquakes and it
overburdens the local water sources. This technique is part of the gas industry that an environmental
protection agency would ban as soon as possible.

Unconventional oil and gas development may pose health risks to nearby communities through
contamination of drinking water sources with hazardous chemicals used in drilling the wellbore,
hydraulically fracturing the well, processing and refining the oil or gas, or disposing of wastewater.
Naturally occurring radioactive materials, methane, and other underground gases have sometimes
leaked into drinking water supplies from improperly cased wells; methane is not associated with acute
health effects but in sufficient volumes may pose flammability concerns

Transportation:

Building an infrastructure to transport the gas from the wells to natural gas power plants is also a
polluting process. Laying pipelines can cause habitat fragmentation and cross key areas from the
perspective of nature. Gas leaks from pipes can cause big environmental trouble in the groundwater
levels (and even on the surface).

Burning and consumption:

Natural gas is the most environmentally friendly fossil fuel because it burns cleaner. In power plants,
natural gas emits 50 to 60 percent less carbon dioxide (CO2) than regular oil or coal-fired power plants.
It also emits greenhouse gases with a lower life cycle into the atmosphere. However, combustion also
releases methane and lowers air quality.

Specific Carbon Dioxide Emission of Various Fuels

The primary target pollutants over the last 30 years from gas turbines have been Nitrogen Oxides.
Nitrogen Oxide emissions from gas turbines firing natural gas range from 5 parts per million (ppm) to
250 ppm. Typical NOX emissions from a new gas turbine installation are a factor of 10 less than from the
average U.S. coal plant.

References

https://www.power-eng.com/emissions/air-pollution-control-equipment-services/gas-turbines-
addressing-todayrsquos-global-environmental-challenges/

https://group.met.com/en/mind-the-fyouture/mindthefyouture/natural-gas-environmental-impact

https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/environmental-impacts-natural-gas