The possibility of alleviation of methane and carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are of major global interest. One of the alternatives that attracts much scientific attention is their chemical utilization, especially because both of these gases are components of the biogas. Thus, the rapid and extensive shale gas development makes them abundant raw materials. The development of an effective catalytic process that could be scaled-up for industrial purposes remains a great challenge for catalysis. As well, understanding of the mechanisms of molecular activation and the reaction pathways over active centers on heterogeneous catalysts needs to be advanced. It has been shown that biogas is a very interesting source of renewable energy. Because of its elevated methane content, biogas has excellent potential, as reflected in its year-over-year rise in production. This is because its manufacturing promotes the use of organic waste, prevents uncontrolled dumping and minimizes atmospheric methane and carbon dioxide emissions. Moreover, its use as an energy source is in some cases an alternative to fossil fuels and can help to minimize energy dependence. Another aspect of interest is that it can be used in situ, allowing agro-livestock farms or small industrial plants to achieve energy self-sufficiency.
The use of adsorbed natural gas (ANG) as a transportation fuel is a relatively cleaner alternative compared to that of gasoline and is important from the perspective of environmental safety. However, unlike gasoline and diesel, natural gas requires compression, liquefaction, and adsorption techniques for its storage, as it has a very low volumetric energy density. Among all storage techniques, adsorption-based natural gas (ANG) storage is considered as more economical and relatively safe technology due to its mild temperature and pressure conditions for the storage. This chapter will summarize the recent advances in the area of ANG with reference to various synthetic storage materials recently developed for the purpose and their efficiency towards storage and deliverability of natural gas. Particular emphasis will be given to adsorbents based on porous carbon materials, metal organic frameworks, and covalent organic frameworks for the said application. The synthetic procedure for the above adsorbents, followed by their efficiency to store and deliver natural gas, will be discussed. Finally, in the conclusion, the future scope of the technology will be summarized.
In the 1970's natural gas was written off in the thinking of many energy planners. It was a "buggy-whip" industry. Environmental impacts are of concern both at the point of end-use energy consumption and at all points in the chain of production, processing and distribution. The environmental advantages of natural gas relative to other energy forms are equally impressive from either perspective. As a rule, supply and utilization systems based on gaseous fuels require substantially less initial capital investment than alternative energy systems. Whereas two-thirds of the energy input to conventional fossil fuel boiler systems is normally lost to the environment, the waste heat from the gas turbine in a combined-cycle unit is captured and utilized. Thus, combined-cycle system efficiency is in the 45 percent range or above. By 1990, approximately 25 percent of all fossil-fueled generating capacity will be at least 30 years old.
A revolution is underway in electricity generating technology that may soon radically transform the power industry in both industrial and developing countries. This revolution involves not an exotic new technology, but rather an upgrading of the familiar but little-used gas turbine, the neglected step-sister of the steam turbine in power generation. The electric power industry needs a technological revolution, since business-as-usual is becoming increasingly untenable. Public concerns about nuclear power risks and the environmental problems posed by fossil fuel power plants have made electric utility planning more and more difficult. The historical attraction of the gas turbine for utilities has been its low cost, $300 per kW22 or less, a small fraction of the cost of coal or nuclear power plants. An early major milestone in the history of the gas turbine was the initiation of German and British programs in the mid-1930s to explore the use of gas turbines for aircraft propulsion.
