Identification

• Natural gas is considered a nonrenewable fossil fuel, also called a hydrocarbon fuel. Like other fossil fuels, natural gas forms from dead organic matter covered by soil and sediment that has undergone millions of years of heat and pressure, according to the Energy Information Administration. Some of the first interactions humans had with fire may have come from lightning striking gas rising from the earth.
  
  

Significance

• Although governments around the world are looking for alternatives to fossil fuels, natural gas will only increase in use and importance, according to the Natural Gas Supply Association. The NGSA estimates that in 2009 alone, at least 50 percent of all new power generation was from natural gas. The industry believes the trend of this increase in production of natural gas will continue for at least the next 20 years.
  
  

Exploration

• Natural gas is almost always found with other types of fossil fuels, such as petroleum, according to the EIA. Older natural gas production strategies simply guessed where oil might exist and then drilled holes. Modern technology uses a special vibrating machine that detects the wave frequencies of oil and gas deposits. A modified form of seismic exploration uses 3-D imaging to create computer models of the environment to show how the surrounding environment will react over time to drilling, according to the NGSA.
  
  

Types

• Natural gas production almost always comes from natural sources underground, but a new type of natural gas production now exists in an infant stage: anaerobic digestion. Dr. Wei Liao, assistant professor in Michigan State University's Department of Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering, states that animal waste breaks into several components, one of them being methane, the main component in natural gas.
  
  

Effects

• Although oil and gas drilling strategies are becoming more efficient, they still can damage the environment and disrupt the natural ecosystem. Slant and horizontal drilling allows for the use of one tunnel, according to the EIA, making it possible for a single well to produce gas from larger areas. Anaerobic digestion on the other hand, requires no drilling and reduces the 160 million tons of animal manure produced each year.