« Global Warming and Developing Nations | Main | Couldn't We Have Gotten More Than "Talk" on Global Warming? »
July 08, 2005
Washington D.C. Leaks Caused by Gas, or Equipment?
By: Rowan
In one of those "off the front pages" stories, is a report on the high number of natural gas leaks experienced in the Washington, D.C. area (Imported Gas Cited In Rash Of Leaks. The claim by the Utility Washington Gas, is that the leaks are being caused by imported natural gas which is weakening couplings in the gas lines. Critics are claiming that Washington Gas is trying to blame the gas for their own faulty lines. On the face of it, the story seems a bit bizarre, but could be of major importance as reliance on imported natural gas increases.
The utility company is saying that their investigation of the increase in leaks is largely due to the slightly different "molecular differences" between the U.S. natural gas, and the gas imported from - primarily from Trinidad. This difference has dried the seals on couplings, but utility officials feel they can reverse the process by "conditioning" the gas.
The Baltimore Sun provides a bit more detail about the issue, and about how natural gas is transported. According to the Sun, the Cove Point terminal natural gas lines had been out of service for about 23 years because it wasn't economically productive to use them. However, starting in 2003 the terminal was reopened and they started moving the imported Trinidad natural gas through them.
Natural gas is transported (according to the Baltimore Sun article) by "(cooling it) to 260 degrees below zero to shrink the fuel, so it can be imported on large ships from the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere. It is then reheated and returned to a gaseous form." This does now seem like a highly efficient process. Cooling anything to 260 degrees below zero takes a fair amount of energy. But the larger problem is the increasing level of natural gas imports.
Across the United States, natural gas is being promoted as a cheap and abundant energy alternative. The reality is that it is on a diminishing track right behind oil. The other issues of possible importance is the possibility that imported natural gas may interact poorly in gas lines - particularly older gas lines.
The natural gas line systems in the U.S. are aging - like much of the infrastructure. Bringing terminals back into service that have been out of service sometimes for decades, may expose an dangerous (and costly) infrastructure weakness. A possibility for the slight molecular difference found at Cove Point could be a different issue entirely. Does moving natural gas from a gaseous state to liquid (by massive cooling) and then returning it to gaseous form (apparently through reheating it), cause a chemical change in the gas?
As the use of imported natural gas increases, it would be a good idea to monitor whether the levels of leaks and explosions dramatically increase - and if so what those leaks are attributed to.
Posted by Rowan at July 8, 2005 07:30 AM Category: Peak Oil --- Social Implications
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.radnoesis.info/mt32/cgi-bin/mt-tb.cgi/1639
Comments
I had not heard about these leaks, thank you for exposing this.
In the meantime I, like many others here at Radical Noesis, view natural gas as another non-renewable resource, and one that comes with obvious caveats. The point about our infrastructure is one which I think I'd like to explore--it is a big concern of mine as I see funding for rebuilding our infrastructure as non-existent, while we continue to throw huge $$ at a war that clearly has not made the world a safer place.
Posted by: Pamela at July 13, 2005 12:25 PM