Natural gas

Most people are unaware of the uses of natural gas beyond heating and power generation. When natural gas is shipped it is liquefied and in the process it is separated into its different components. Natural gas is 70 to 90 percent methane and that is the part that is used in power generation. The remaining 10 -30 percent is ethane, propane, butane and pentane and all of these are feed stocks for the chemical industry and these lead to hundreds of products. In addition to heating the methane part is used to make ammonia fertilizer which when properly used increases crop production by 40% and allows marginal land to be used.