There are also losses in pipelines and storage. Remember that giant methane leak in southern California that upset everyone? Caverns have their limits. Methane is a gas, a colorless, odorless gas. That smell you notice is from incredibly stinky sulfur mercaptans that are added to the gas so it can be noticed.
There are contaminants, like water, that build up in pipelines, especially if the flow is low. Water freezing and blocking flow in pipelines that had been stagnant low-flow for a while is why in Texas during the last great ERCOT mess, the gas supply stopped. It didn't quite stop, but it was restricted because of ice in the lines. Little to do but wait until the ice melted.
I said "tried", but the system worked well, until a forest ranger in Smokey-Bear hat came to the gas company and complained of bubbles in the water, which he said were methane from the underground storage. The company initially said "no way" but the ranger was prepared. He presented Commonwealth Gas management with comparative mass spectrometer analyses of the gas in the lake bubbles and the gas from the company. He was right, so the storage facility was decomissioned.
Commonwealth Gas tried to store LNG underground in Hopkinton, MA, where I was once a consultant. They sucked on the pipeline all summer, when natural gas was cheap, liquified it and stored it in a cavern, then sold it to the Boston market in the winter. We've had pipeline constraints in New England for 35 years, at least.
You wrote “tried” as in past tense. Does that mean the activity is no longer done? Did the company document the reasons why it stopped - perhaps as a way to discourage others from trying and making similar errors?
Bernie Sanders needs to hang his head in shame. He was one of the proponents of shutting down the perfectly good Vermont Yankee nuclear power station. Vermont once had the cleanest electricity supply in the nation. 90% clean electricity, 73% clean nuclear electricity. The nuclear was largely replaced by gas generation. Which as mentioned in the article is unreliable in the winter. And must be supplemented by expensive oil & LNG.
And what liars. They claimed the Nuclear would be replaced by solar & wind. The corrupt, slimy governor of Vermont, Peter Shumlin, proclaimed Germany gets 30% of its electricity from solar, when in fact, Germany produced 5.2% of its total electricity supply from solar power, in 2013, including solar exports.
There are also losses in pipelines and storage. Remember that giant methane leak in southern California that upset everyone? Caverns have their limits. Methane is a gas, a colorless, odorless gas. That smell you notice is from incredibly stinky sulfur mercaptans that are added to the gas so it can be noticed.
There are contaminants, like water, that build up in pipelines, especially if the flow is low. Water freezing and blocking flow in pipelines that had been stagnant low-flow for a while is why in Texas during the last great ERCOT mess, the gas supply stopped. It didn't quite stop, but it was restricted because of ice in the lines. Little to do but wait until the ice melted.
I said "tried", but the system worked well, until a forest ranger in Smokey-Bear hat came to the gas company and complained of bubbles in the water, which he said were methane from the underground storage. The company initially said "no way" but the ranger was prepared. He presented Commonwealth Gas management with comparative mass spectrometer analyses of the gas in the lake bubbles and the gas from the company. He was right, so the storage facility was decomissioned.
Commonwealth Gas tried to store LNG underground in Hopkinton, MA, where I was once a consultant. They sucked on the pipeline all summer, when natural gas was cheap, liquified it and stored it in a cavern, then sold it to the Boston market in the winter. We've had pipeline constraints in New England for 35 years, at least.
what an absurd waste of energy, carbon emissions, etc
Bob,
You wrote “tried” as in past tense. Does that mean the activity is no longer done? Did the company document the reasons why it stopped - perhaps as a way to discourage others from trying and making similar errors?
I didn't realize the Rainbow Swash gas tank in Boston held LNG. Guesstimate 40 m x 40 m x 40 m = 64,000 m3-LNG, about 29,000 tonnes-LNG, about 1,500,000 MMBT U, maybe $10 million worth. Here's the drama of fire department response. https://www.dotnews.com/2018/neighbors-assured-false-alarm-gas-tank-protocols-place-case-real Nice picture of Ho Chi Minh, on tank?!
why is it so hard for people to understand that geography matters.
the north east should stick coal and nuclear, keep wind on the margins at best and within the limits of what local hydro can accommodate with storage.
Bernie Sanders needs to hang his head in shame. He was one of the proponents of shutting down the perfectly good Vermont Yankee nuclear power station. Vermont once had the cleanest electricity supply in the nation. 90% clean electricity, 73% clean nuclear electricity. The nuclear was largely replaced by gas generation. Which as mentioned in the article is unreliable in the winter. And must be supplemented by expensive oil & LNG.
And what liars. They claimed the Nuclear would be replaced by solar & wind. The corrupt, slimy governor of Vermont, Peter Shumlin, proclaimed Germany gets 30% of its electricity from solar, when in fact, Germany produced 5.2% of its total electricity supply from solar power, in 2013, including solar exports.
Fantastic job once again!
What happens to the gas when the wind is blowing and the gas is paid, but not taken? Is it stored? Flared?
Also, have you seen any clear explanations of the run up in gas prices in California over the past few weeks? Or do you have an explanation yourself?
EIA’s Natural Gas Weekly Update is often a good source of concise explanations of significant events and trends in the US gas market.
The report for the week ending on Dec 22 includes an explanation of the recent western US price behavior.
https://www.eia.gov/naturalgas/weekly/archivenew_ngwu/2022/12_22/