Natural gas occurs either in conjunction with oil in the oil fields or separately in gas-fields. Most oil in underground contains gas. Natural gas has tremendous heating power.
With the help of pipelines the gas is transported to the consuming centres. But the difficulty lies in the fact that the pipeline costs much. The chief risk lies in maintaining a level of pipeline operation sufficient to meet expenses and earn a profit on the investment, because of inadequate and variable nature of market. The greater part of the gas is therefore consumed near the source. Exports are negligible. About 46 per cent of all marketed natural gas was used in oil and gas-field operations, carbon black production and petroleum refining. Natural gas has a great scope of being used in chemical industry for making synthetics. But it involves problems like cost, prices and profits. Glass and cement industry specially consume this gas for its purity.
U.S.A.: A large part of natural gas produced in the U.S. comes from Texas, Oklahoma, California, North Carolina, Iowa, Idaho, Wyoming and Nevada.
Russia possesses enormous reserves of natural gases occurring both in combination with oil and separately. In the Ferghana valley, Surkhan-Darya and Kaskh-Darya of Uzbekistan rich deposits of natural gas have been found. The reserves in Bukhara-Khiva are probably, the richest in the world. Of special importance-not in respect of the size of their reserves, but also their location-are the gas deposits of the Volga region, which is poor in other kinds of fuel.
Electricity-A Modern Refinement of Energy use
Electrification constitutes the technical basis for developing the economy of a country. Electricity is not a source of energy in itself. Electrical energy is derived from coal, waterpower, petroleum, natural gas, wood and wind. More than 75 cent of the total electrical energy comes from various fuels, chiefly coal and the balance of 25 per cent form waterpower. The greatest advantage of electricity is that it can be transmitted by cables over long distances.
Another advantage is that it has unlimited degree of divisibility and flexibility. The amount of energy can be adjusted mechanically according to necessity.
Electricity has disadvantage as well. It is extremely perishable in nature. It cannot be stored economically in large quantities and must be consumed.
The consumption of electricity in the world is increasing rapidly in view of the fact that power is an essential basis requirement for the development of industries both large and small. The per capita consumption of electricity of Norway stands at 5000 units per annum, of Sweden and the USA at 45000 units and of the UK and Russia at 25000 units and of India at 38 units per annum.
Power and Economic Development: Energy is a basic requirement for the economic growth and industrialization of country. Commercial energy sources are coal, petroleum and electricity. A large percentage of the total energy consumption in developed countries is in the form of electric power. For example in Japan the electric consumption forms 50 per cent of total energy consumption. In India the figure is 25 percent.
Modern industrial and agro-economic development is dependent on the growth of electric power utilities. Shortage of power retards the growth of the economy.
Electric power is produced from three principal plants, viz., hydro, thermal and nuclear. The choice of the plant for any power system requires analysis of various factors involving the demand pattern, the cost of installation, the availability and cost of water or fuel resources etc.
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