CH4 Facts

CH4 Facts: Creating Food Containers

December 2, 2021

That was a pretty picture of canned fruit in glass jars in our last CH4 Facts post, but did you know that natural gas is a key component to creating food containers? Not just glass, but also aluminum cans, plastic containers, Styrofoam, and more. Can you think of a container that isn’t made with natural gas? If you have a specific question, send us a message and plan to join us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable, May 3-5, 2022 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh, PA.

EGCR: Educating the Oil & Gas Industry Since 1973

CH4 Facts: Food Safety

November 11, 2021

OK, now I am interested. We have discussed healthcare and agriculture, now let’s go to the place where the 2 topics meet: food safety. The ability to safely preserve food has been a game changer for civilizations. Humans no longer had to follow the hunter/gatherer model that required people to be nomadic. A key ingredient to many methods of food preservation is heat. Lots of heat. Whether you are in a commercial canning operation, or doing it like your granny taught you, we need heat to kill micro-organisms like bacteria that lead to food spoilage. Often, natural gas serves as a fuel source either directly, or indirectly through power generation. If you have a specific question, send us a message or plan to join us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable, May 3-5, 2022 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh, PA.

EGCR: Educating the Oil & Gas Industry Since 1973

CH4 Facts: Transporting Agricultural Products

November 4, 2021

I think we have just about covered agriculture, right? We have scraped the surface on the topic of the use of natural gas in agriculture, but there is still one huge facet we haven’t talked about — transportation. I know we covered it in healthcare, too, but it is even more relevant and vital in agriculture. From the grain carts active in the fields, the 18-wheelers hauling products to the grain bins, and the rail cars, barges, and ships that transport products regionally and internationally, transportation is interwoven with agriculture. Natural gas plays a huge role in the manufacture, operation, and maintenance of the transportation industry. If you have a specific question, send us a message or plan to join us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable, May 3-5, 2022 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh, PA.

EGCR: Educating the Oil & Gas Industry Since 1973

CH4 Facts: Natural Gas Helps Preserve a Harvest

October 28, 2021

Oh, so natural gas is critical to plant growth in agriculture? Yes it is, but natural gas can also play an important role in preservation of the harvest. Plants ranging from corn to tobacco can require drying for moisture reduction and preservation. The ability to artificially accelerate drying with heat and air movers can add much needed flexibility in a farmer’s schedule. This ability can even allow production in geographical areas with reduced growing seasons. Natural Gas serves as a fuel source for much of this equipment either directly or through power generation stations that deliver electricity to the equipment. If you have a specific question, send us a message or plan to join us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable, May 3-5, 2022 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh, PA.

EGCR: Educating the Oil & Gas Industry Since 1973

CH4 Facts: Let’s Talk Greenhouses

October 21, 2021

More on Agriculture? Yep… let’s talk greenhouses. Greenhouses play a critical role for food and plant production. These operations allow farmers to plant indoors weeks ahead of the day it is safe to plant outside. Greenhouses also allow for out of season production and flowering in any climate. There is even a productive greenhouse in Antarctica. Natural gas plays a key role in maintaining a hospitable environment in greenhouses as well as the manufacture of the glass and material components. If you have a specific question, send us a message or plan to join us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable, May 3-5, 2022 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh, PA.

EGCR: Educating the Oil & Gas Industry Since 1973

CH4 Facts: Natural Gas & Agriculture

October 7, 2021

Beyond fertilizer, does natural gas support agriculture in other ways? It sure does… let’s talk production. The term “acre” originally was defined as the area one man could plow behind an ox in a single day. When you compare that definition to what a single farmer can do with modern equipment, there is an exponential difference. Natural gas is a key component in the manufacture, operation, and maintenance of that equipment. If you have a specific question, send us a message or plan to join us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable, May 3-5, 2022 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh, PA.

EGCR: Educating the Oil & Gas Industry Since 1973

CH4 Facts: Fertilizer

September 30, 2021

We have talked about how fossil fuels have impacted healthcare, but are there other ways natural gas impacts life expectancy? Yes, there definitely is. Let’s talk fertilizer. In the graph below, you can see how crop fertilization has fueled and supported the world population explosion. Natural gas is critical in the production of synthetic fertilizers. If you have a specific question, contact us directly or plan to join us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable, May 3-5, 2022 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh, PA.

Source: Max Roser and Hannah Ritchie (2013) – “Fertilizers”. Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: ‘https://ourworldindata.org/fertilizers’ [Online Resource]

EGCR: Educating the Oil & Gas Industry Since 1973

CH4 Facts: Pharmaceutical Prices

September 23, 2021

If healthcare is so closely tied to fossil fuels, do we see a fluctuation in healthcare cost when supply pricing of fossil fuels changes? Yes, but an even more interesting trend is what happens when the medical industry doesn’t use fossil fuels. A Kaiser study found that from 2000-2008, pharmaceutical price increases rose by approximately 114% in comparison to other medical expenditure categories. For example, hospital and patient services increased roughly 88%. During this time, the pharmaceutical industry was pursuing replacing chemical agents with biological agents in their processes. It turns out that the expense to manufacture and administer those biological agents was significantly higher. If you have a specific question, send us a message or plan to join us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable, May 3-5, 2022 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh, PA.

Source: Norbeck TB. Drivers of health care costs. A Physicians Foundation white paper – second of a three-part series. Mo Med. 2013;110(2):113–118.

EGCR: Educating the Oil & Gas Industry Since 1973

CH4 Facts: Transportation

September 9, 2021

Beyond medicines, plastics and climate control, are there other ways fossil fuels impact healthcare? Yes, and the biggest one is transportation. The healthcare industry depends on oil and natural gas to move patients in ambulances, deliver supplies to their facilities, and get their staff to work. Even the staff that are riding the subway in large metropolitan areas are using electricity produced with natural gas. If you have a specific question, send us a message or plan to join us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable, May 3-5, 2022 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh, PA.

EGCR: Educating the Oil & Gas Industry Since 1973

CH4 Facts: CO Levels Trending Down

July 22, 2021

Our post on fossil fuel emissions didn’t show the cumulative effects on air concentration based on those emissions. So, let’s take a deeper look at CO. Levels are trending down in PPM. If you have a specific question, send us a message or plan to join us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable, September 14-16, 2021 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh, PA.