bp_module 09_Natural Gas.pdf

module 9 | BP energy education programme 2008

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©BP Australia Pty Ltd 2008 BP energy education program module 9: natural gas

Learning Area Society and Environment Science

Outcomes Investigation, Communication and Participation (S&E)

Earth and Beyond (SCI) Energy and Change (SCI)

Phase Early Adolescence

Program BPEEP Module 9: Natural Gas

Learning Area, Outcomes and Phase

CopyrightThis training module is copyright. Apart from fair dealing for private study or research as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of BP Australia Pty Ltd. All requests and enquiries should be directed to the BPEEP Coordinator on (08) 9419 9623.

DisclaimerThe content of this training module is provided for educational purposes only. In no event will BP Australia Pty Ltd or any related corporation be liable for the accuracy of the information contained in the module or the reliance placed upon it. The module is provided on the basis that all persons using it take responsibility for assessing the relevance and accuracy of its content.

The content was compiled by teachers Chris Hickman and Kate Bowman of Perth, Western Australia who have sourced and written the content.

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Module 9 titled ‘Natural Gas’ is part of the teaching and learning sequence to the BP Energy Education Program. The main objective of the module is to explore the potential of natural gas to become a significant energy resource used to reduce the current dependence on traditional energy resources such as oil and coal.

Key understandings addressed in this module are delivered through 1 major conceptual area:

1. The Century of Natural Gas?• Explain how natural gas is formed.

• Identify the main uses of natural gas.

• Identify and describe the advantages and disadvantages of natural gas as an energy resource.

• Describe the extent of the impact of natural gas on the environment.

• Determine the potential of natural gas as a world wide energy resource.

• Examine the importance of the North West Shelf Joint Venture.

Module 9 ‘Natural Gas’ is linked to the Western Australian Department of Education and Training’s Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Policy (CAR Policy) and associated documentation. The program, presented as a series of teaching and learning experiences, links teacher planning and learning area (Science and Society and Environment) coverage back to the initial planning documents, namely the ‘Curriculum Framework’ and ‘Outcomes and Standards Framework ’. Planning documentation provides teachers with the explicit links to the Curriculum Framework; Knowledge, Skills and Values focus; and learning area Outcomes and Standards coverage. Relevant learning area documentation, and teaching and learning links, are colour coded for both Science (ORANGE) and Society and Environment (PURPLE).

Teachers should refer to both Learning Area Curriculum Guides (What students should be taught) and Learning Area Outcomes and Standards Framework (What levels of achievement students can demonstrate/achieve across the relevant Learning Area outcomes) when considering the application of the BPEEP modules to their individual teaching and learning program requirements.

A suggested timeframe is provided as a guide only to how long teachers may expect to spend on the learning experiences contained in the conceptual area of the module. A teacher guide is provided for each of these conceptual areas. Lesson support material is also provided.

Overview of Learning Module

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Contents

This symbol denotes worksheets

Overview of Learning Module ..............................................................................................................1

Relevance to BP ...................................................................................................................................3

BPEEP Learning Area Outcome/Aspect Coverage ..............................................................................4

Educator’s Summary of Module 9 ........................................................................................................5

Suggested Teaching Timeframe ...........................................................................................................7

Conceptual Area 1: The Century of Natural Gas? .................................................................................8

Learning Experience 1.1: ‘Introducing Natural Gas’ ..................................................................... 11

Learning Experience 1.2: ‘Using Natural Gas to create electricity’ ............................................... 11

Learning Experience 1.3: ‘The Potential of Natural Gas’............................................................... 11

Learning Experience 1.4: ‘The main uses of natural gas’ .............................................................12

Learning Experience 1.5: ‘Overcoming a large problem: LNG’ ....................................................12

Learning Experience 1.6: ‘Making Ice Cream without a freezer’ ..................................................13

Learning Experience 1.7: ‘Natural Gas and the Environment’ ......................................................14

Learning Experience 1.8: Guest Speaker ......................................................................................14

Learning Experience 1.9: ‘Careers in Natural Gas Industry’ .........................................................15

Learning Experience 1.10: ‘Natural Gas Crossword’ .....................................................................15

Learning Experience 1.11: Paragraph Task ....................................................................................15

Learning Experience 1.12: Assessment Task: ‘North West Shelf Joint Venture’ .........................16

Learning Experience 1.1 ....................................................................................................19









Learning Experience 1.10 ..................................................................................................47

Learning Experience 1.11...................................................................................................49

Learning Experience 1.12 ..................................................................................................51

References for module 9 ....................................................................................................................54

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The world’s natural gas reserves represent around 44% of the total oil and gas reserves. Natural gas production represents around 40% of BP’s total production and reserves with the remaining 60% being oil. The percentage of gas in BP’s portfolio of hydrocarbon assets has increased over time and is continuing to do so as global demand for gas also increases. In 2007, gas was the only fossil fuel where demand increased more than the historical average growth rate. There are several reasons why gas demand is increasing:

• Gas produces less greenhouse gas emissions than oil or coal and this attribute is being increasingly recognised and valued by those who buy our gas

• Gas has historically sold at a lower price than oil. So, for example, over time, oil or coal powered electricity generation is commonly being replaced with gas-powered electricity since gas is cleaner and cheaper to buy as a fuel. However, the lower running costs of a gas fired electricity plant has to be traded off against the higher cost of building the gas powered plant compared to coal or oil powered plants

• There is more infrastructure available to enable gas to be transported to where it is needed. Providing gas transportation infrastructure is a major cost, but once it is in place, supplying gas to consumers can be done relatively easily and cheaply.

The increasing emphasis of gas in BP’s portfolio fits with BP’s “green” agenda since substituting gas for oil and coal in the global energy mix reduces greenhouse gas emissions and improves energy efficiency.

In Australia, BP first started providing natural gas to Perth in 1984 through our participation in the North West Shelf Gas Project. This project supplies natural gas from the North Rankin and Goodwyn gas platforms which is then transported via a 130Km pipeline to the onshore gas processing facilities at Karratha. From there it is transported to Perth via the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline (DBNGP). The main use for the gas in Perth is to generate electricity in gas fuelled power stations and other industrial users. However, it is also supplied to many Perth households for cooking. In 1989, the first sale of NWS gas was made to Japanese customers by cooling and liquefying the gas into Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) at Karratha and shipping it in LNG carriers to Japan. It is then warmed up and converted to a gas again and used for electricity generation or supplied to households in Tokyo and other Japanese cities.

Although BP also produces some oil in Australia, natural gas together with the liquids that can be separated from the gas, represent over 80% of BP’s total oil and gas production in Australia. So, in some ways, natural gas is the lifeblood of BP in Australia and will remain so for many years to come.

Relevance to BP

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Click on the module number to go to that module.

OUTCOME BPEEP MODULE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

SCIENCE

Earth and Beyond

Sustainability of life and wise resource use X X X X X X X X X

Earth forces and materials X X X X X X X X

Relationships between the Earth, our Solar System and the Universe.

X

Energy and Change

Energy, sources, patterns and uses. X X X X X X

Transfer and transformation. X X

Natural and Processed Materials

Structures, Properties and Uses X

Interactions and Changes X

SOCIETY AND ENVIRONMENT

Resources

Use of Resources X X X X X X X X

Management and Enterprise X X X X X X X X X X

People and Work X X X X X X

Place and Space

Features of Places X X

People and Places X X X

Care of Places X X X

Investigation, Communication, Participation

Planning X X X X X X X X X X X

Conducting X X X X X X X X X X X

Processing and Translating X X X X X X X X X X X

Applying and Communicating X X X X X X X X X X X

BPEEP Learning Area Outcome/Aspect Coverage

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DESCRIPTION OF CROSS CURRICULAR PROGRAM

Module 9: “Natural Gas” is predominantly focused upon Society and Environment outcomes Investigation, Communication and Participation, and Resources and Science outcomes Earth and Beyond and Energy and Change. The module requires students to investigate the option of natural gas as a substitute for oil and coal. The module applies conceptual understandings of previous BPEEP modules and establishes new essential knowledge for the students to apply in further modules as part of the BPEEP program. Teachers are encouraged to adopt a cross curricular approach with relevant learning areas.

CONCEPTUAL FOCUS SKILLS FOCUS

Formation of natural gas.

The main uses of natural gas.

The advantages and disadvantages of natural gas as an energy resource.

The extent of natural gases impact on the environment.

The potential of natural gas as a world wide energy resource.

The North West Shelf Joint Venture.

Ongoing literacy focus: paragraphing.

Science laboratory process skills.

Viewing and information retrieval.

Information retrieval / note-taking.

Internet / Website information retrieval

Statistical data analysis and graphing.

Group work and independent work.

Research skills (as per S&E I.C.P. ladder process).

DESCRIPTION OF ASSESSMENT

Supporting the on-going literacy focus a paragraph task is included. Though some conceptual understanding can be levelled in certain Learning Area Outcomes, teachers are encouraged to use the paragraph rubric (provided) through the delivery of the BPEEP modules to monitor the student’s ability to construct well structured paragraphs over an extended period of time. Consideration should be given to both modelling and scaffolding the paragraph framework prior to assessing this vital literacy skill.

To formally assess the students an assessment task and rubric is provided. The task requires students to present a report on Australia’s North West Shelf Joint Venture. The task is ideally suited to a cross curricular approach where students follow the research process outlined by the ICP ladder and connected support frameworks. These resources are available in the appendix section of the BPEEP resource file.

LITERACY FOCUS NUMERACY FOCUS PEDAGOGICAL FOCUS

A major on-going focus on Paragraphing utilising paragraph framework. Also emphasis on keywords, note-taking and other literacy oriented strategies.

Graph and statistics interpretation Group Work

Inquiry based learning.

CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK VALUES STRAND NO.

A pursuit of knowledge & a commitment to achievement of full potential. 1.1 – 1.7 (CF)

Self Acceptance and Respect of Self. 2.1 – 2.5 (CF)

Respect and Concern for Others and Their Rights. 3.1 – 3.7 (CF)

Social and Civic responsibility. 4.4, 4.8, 4.9 (CF)

Environmental responsibility. 5.2, 5.3

Educator’s Summary of Module 9

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OVERARChING LEARNING OUTCOMES CONTEXT

1. Students use language to understand, develop and communicate ideas and information with others.

Literacy Focus and wide range of learning experiences.

2. Students select, integrate and apply numerical and spatial concepts and techniques.

Units of measurement and simples calculations.

3. Students recognise when and what information is needed, locate and obtain it from a range of sources and evaluate, use and share it with others.

Focus of S&E I.C.P. outcome and associated skills e.g. keywords, note-taking, sources.

4. Students use, select and apply technologies. Internet (website) research.

5. Students describe and reason about patterns, structures and relationships in order to understand, interpret, justify and make predictions.

Analysing current trends to predict future outcomes.

6. Students visualise consequences, think laterally, recognise opportunity and potential and are prepared to test opinions.

Renewable VS Non-Renewable Energy sources and future energy options.

7. Students understand and appreciate the physical, biological and technological world and have the knowledge and skills to make decisions in relation to it.

Conceptual Areas 1.

8. Students understand their cultural, geographical and historical contexts and have the knowledge, values and skills to make decisions in relation to it.

Conceptual 1.

9. Students interact with people and cultures other than their own and are equipped to contribute to the global community.

N.A.

10. Students participate in creative activity of their own and understand and engage with the artistic, cultural and intellectual work of others.

Learning Experiences comprising of variety of tasks throughout Conceptual Areas 1.

11. Students value and implement practices that promote personal growth and well-being.

Group Work and values oriented learning.

12. Students are self motivated and confident in their approach to learning and are able to work individually and collaboratively.

Range of teaching strategies – individual and group work.

13. Students recognise that everyone has the right to feel valued and to be safe and in this regard understand their rights and obligations and behave responsibly.

Explicit teaching and implementation of group learning strategies.

Educator’s Summary of Module 9

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DAY TIMELEARNING EXPERIENCE

LEARNING AREA LEARNING TASK

CONCEPTUAL AREA 1: ThE CENTURY OF NATURAL GAS?

1 60 minutes Experience 1.1: ‘Introducing Natural Gas’

Science Worksheet

2 60 minutes Experience 1.2: ‘Using Natural Gas to create electricity’

Science Worksheet

3 60 minutes Experience 1.3: ‘The Potential of Natural Gas’

Science

Society and Environment

Worksheet

4-5 120 minutes Experience 1.4: ‘The main uses of natural gas’

Science


Note-taking

Jigsaw

6 60 minutes Experience 1.5: ‘Overcoming a large problem: LNG’

Science Problem – Solution Activity

7 60 minutes Experience 1.6: ‘Making Ice Cream without a freezer’

Science Science Laboratory

8-9 120 minutes Experience 1.7: ‘Natural Gas and the Environment’

Science


Research and Poster Design

10 60 minutes Experience 1.8: Guest Speaker

Science


Guest Speaker

11 60 minutes Experience 1.9: ‘Careers in the gas industry’

Science


Careers Investigation

Experience 1.10: ‘Natural Gas Crossword’

Science


Crossword Development

12 60 minutes Experience 1.11: Paragraph Task

Science


Paragraph Task

13-? Determined by teacher

Experience 1.12: Assessment Task: ‘North West Shelf Joint Venture’

Science


Assessment Task

Suggested Teaching Timeframe

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LEARNING AREA: Science Society and Environment

OUTCOME/S: Earth and Beyond (Science) Place and Space (Society and Environment) Energy and Change (Sci) Investigation, Communication and Participation (S&E) Resources (S&E)

PhASE OF DEVELOPMENT: Early Adolescence

CONCEPTUAL AREA: The Century of Natural Gas?

KEY UNDERSTANDINGS: Students will be able to determine the potential for natural gas to be increasingly used as an energy resource, reducing dependence on the highly consumed energy resources of oil and coal.

CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDINGS

SKILLS VALUES

Explain how natural gas is formed.

Identify the main uses of natural gas.

Identify and describe the advantages and disadvantages of natural gas as an energy resource.

Describe the impact of natural gas on the environment.

Determine the potential of natural gas as a world wide energy resource.

Examine the importance of the North West Shelf Joint Venture.

Diagramming.

Information retrieval.

Brainstorm/mind-map.

Note-taking.

Focus Questions.

Science Laboratory Process.

Statistics.

Paragraph Framework.

Research – Internet / website.

1.1 – 1.7

2.1 – 2.5

3.1 – 3.7

4.1, 4.2, 4.4, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9

5.2, 5.3, 5.4

TEAChER INFORMATION:

This series of learning experiences aims to promote the need for world energy companies to explore alternative energy sources other than coal and oil. This module explores the potential for natural gas to be increasingly used as an energy resource, reducing dependence on the highly consumed energy resources of oil and coal.

For the purpose of this Learning Experience the following information taken from ‘BP Energy Business Booklet (2005-2006): Gas, Power and Renewable Energy’:

Throughout the world people are increasingly concerned about the impact of energy consumption and economic growth on the environment. In the global energy market, the demand is for cleaner energy as well as energy services that reduce costs and emissions. BP’s Gas, Power and Renewables business is responding to this growing worldwide demand for cleaner energy. The business supplies natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) to new and existing markets, provides energy for large businesses, and develops and markets renewable energy sources.

Natural gas

The 21st century has been called the “century of natural gas”. Although natural gas has been used for more than 100 years, it is only in the last 40 years that it has become a vital part of the world’s energy balance, and in 2004 accounted for nearly 25% of the world’s energy consumption. Demand for gas is currently growing faster than any other fossil fuel.

One of the benefits of natural gas as a fuel, is that it emits less environmentally damaging products than oil or coal.

Conceptual Area 1: The Century of Natural Gas?

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What is natural gas?

Natural gas is composed mainly of the gas methane, which is the simplest of the hydrocarbon molecules (chemical formula CH4). Methane is colourless and odourless, although an additive is used to give the natural gas a ‘smell’ so that users can detect leaks.

Scientists believe that natural gas and oil were formed from the remains of plants and tiny marine creatures millions of years ago. In fact, natural gas is found in the same geological conditions as oil, either by itself or associated with oil reserves.

Because natural gas is largely composed of methane, it requires less processing than oil before it can be used. Normally water and other types of gas present (known as natural gas liquids) need to be extracted. Sometimes natural gas contains traces of sulphur (when it is known as ‘sour gas’), which also needs to be removed.

Natural Gas liquids (NGLs) is a collective term for the mixtures of ethane, propane and butane gas, extracted from natural gas. Propane and butane are also sometimes referred to as liquefied petroleum gases (LPG). NGLs are used as raw materials in oil refining and petrochemical manufacturing.

Main Uses of Natural Gas

Domestic heating

Natural gas is a very convenient form of energy for the home. Since the discovery of North Sea gas, it has become the most popular choice for domestic hot water and central heating systems in the UK. In many parts of Europe and also in the USA natural gas is also the most popular fuel for home heating.

Industrial heating

Natural gas is used in many industries for heating and for producing steam which can be used to power generators and turbines.

Petrochemical production

Natural gas and natural gas liquids can be used as alternatives to oil refinery products to manufacture the basic building blocks for petrochemicals (chemicals from oil) and plastics.

Power generation

With growing concerns over emissions from coal and oil-fired power stations, there has been a rapid growth in the use of natural gas for generating electricity. Gas is not only less polluting, but the new combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) technology has made electricity generation far more efficient.

Combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power stations

In CCGT power stations, gas is burnt to drive a turbine that generates electricity. In traditional plants, the waste heat from the turbine would be ‘lost’ into the atmosphere. In the CCGT this waste heat is used to produce steam that drives a second turbine to produce more electricity. Emissions are far less from CCGT plants and the efficiency of new CCGT stations can be as high as 60%, which is 35-50% better than a conventional power plant.

Gas to liquids technology

This technology converts natural gas into liquid fuels. Although one process for doing this has been known since the 1920s, it hasn’t generally been economic. BP and other major energy companies are today investigating new gas to liquids technology that, among other benefits, could be used to exploit smaller, remote gas reserves far from pipelines and turn these into valuable fuels.

Natural gas as a road fuel

Compressed natural gas (CNG) is being used as a fuel for buses and commercial vehicles in cities where low emissions make it particularly attractive. Car makers around the world are developing vehicles to run on natural gas. Some run on natural gas only and others can run on natural gas or gasoline (called bi-fuel vehicles). Because Egypt has abundant supplies of natural gas, the government has run a major initiative to convert the country’s vehicles to CNG. BP, with a 40% stake in the first natural gas vehicles company, has helped to pioneer this effort. Converting to CNG reduces vehicle exhaust emissions of carbon monoxide and non-methane hydrocarbons by about 85%. BP is conducting a pilot with two Cairo Transport buses, sent to California for re-engineering to use CNG. It is hoped that, with the success of this pilot, thousands of buses in Egypt will be able to convert to CNG.


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Natural gas and the environment

The lighter the fuel, the cleaner it burns. Methane contains the least amount of carbon per molecule of any hydrocarbon fuel. This means it produces far less carbon dioxide when it is burnt in domestic boilers or power stations. As natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel, it can improve the quality of the air when it is used to replace coal and oil. In fact, natural gas produces hardly any atmospheric emissions of sulphur dioxide or small particles of matter and much less of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide than the burning of other fossil fuels.

These benefits mean using more natural gas can make a positive contribution to addressing three of the environmental issues that concern people most:• ozone pollution in cities • acid rain (caused by the presence of sulphur and nitrous oxides in fuels) • emissions of carbon dioxide that are generally considered to contribute to global warming through the ‘enhanced

greenhouse effect’.

As an example of the environmental benefits of natural gas, the gas that will be processed through the BP LNG terminal in Guangdong in China will replace brown coal, which is currently burned throughout the country. Brown coal produces 80% more CO2 emissions than natural gas.

RESOURCES EqUIPMENT

Copies of worksheets attached to learning experiences.

Copy of ‘Carbon Footprint Toolkit’ CD Rom.

Paragraph framework and rubric.

Access to computers/internet

Science Laboratory Equipment per Group:

1 cup cold milk

2 Tbsp sugar

2 drops of vanilla essence

Ice (about 3-4 standard domestic trays of ice per group)

4 Tbsp rock salt

1 small plastic zipper type bag (typically used for lunches)

1 large plastic zipper type bag (holds about 1 litre)

1 small towel

1 ice cream cone per group member

Thermometer which can read subzero temperatures

Student Prior Knowledge: Prior to delivering this module it is recommended that students would have completed all or some aspects of Module 1: What is Energy, Module 5: Oil economics, Module 6: Peak Oil, Module 7: Climate Change and Module 8: Alternative Energy. This module provides students with an understanding of the need to optimise the potential of energy sources, like natural gas, to substitute for and reduce our dependence on oil and coal.


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Learning Experiences:Learning Experience 1.1: ‘Introducing Natural Gas’ To introduce students to natural gas as an energy resource, a short extract is used from Fact Sheet 13 from the Carbon Footprint Toolkit.

The teacher should adopt a reading strategy to allow the class to familiarise themselves with the text, paying particular attention to the keywords in bold. The teacher should question the students or lead a discussion on natural gas to ensure student initial understanding. A particular focus could be to revise the formation of oil and the concept of fossil fuels. Discussion could also cover the students’ understanding of current uses of natural gas as an energy resource in their homes and community. The students should complete the activities outlined in the worksheet. These questions should then form the basis for further discussion and/or teacher questioning to reinforce the students understanding.

➜ go to Learning Experience 1.1 worksheet

Learning Experience 1.2: ‘Using Natural Gas to create electricity’To introduce students to the process of converting natural gas into electricity a short extract is used from Fact Sheet 13 from the Carbon Footprint Toolkit.

The teacher should adopt a reading strategy to allow the class to familiarise themselves with the text. It is suggested to support the focus on keywords established in Learning Experience 1 that this time the students themselves identify the keywords from the text, these could form the basis of a glossary list or future spelling test.

The teacher should pay particular attention to the Energy Transformations diagram, linking it to the information on natural gas. The students should complete the activities using both the text and diagram. Before discussing responses as a class it is suggested that the students work with a partner to share and modify their responses to the questions. When discussing responses with the students it is important that discussion highlights the benefits natural gas provides as an energy resource in comparison to other fossil fuels like oil and coal.


Learning Experience 1.3: ‘The Potential of Natural Gas’This learning experience requires students to access the information sheets on ‘The Potential of Natural Gas’. This information was taken from BP Energy Business Booklet (2005-2006): Gas, Power and Renewable Energy.

Once provided with the text source: ‘The Potential of Natural Gas’, the teacher should adopt a reading strategy to allow the class to familiarise themselves with the text and charts. It is suggested the students record main ideas (keywords, ideas, phrases). Alternatively, on a piece of paper students could record what they consider to be the 5-10 most important pieces of information that help them develop their understanding of the potential of natural gas as an energy resource. These should be shared and used as discussion prompts to clarify student understanding.


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Students are to complete the worksheet to demonstrate key understandings. Some of the activities require students to apply their prior knowledge from previous BPEEP modules, especially the need to reduce fossil fuel (oil/coal) dependency and the actual formation of oil. The extent to which these are used as revision opportunities should be determined by the teacher.


Learning Experience 1.4: ‘The main uses of natural gas’This learning experience requires students to research one use of natural gas, utilising classroom, library and internet based resources.

Working in groups of six, the students should negotiate with each other to allocate each member with a different use of natural gas to research. Their research will enable the students to become experts in their area of research. Each person will use their expertise to report back to the group and share their understanding. The six main uses of natural gas to be researched are:

Use 1: Domestic Heating

Use 2: Industrial Heating

Use 3: Gas to liquids technology

Use 4: Natural Gas as a road fuel

Use 5: Petrochemical Production

Use 6: Power Generation

Students should initially complete the note-taking framework ‘A Use of Natural Gas’, they need to ensure they complete it with enough detail to provide the members of their group with a thorough overview of their allocated topic. Alternatively the teacher may decide to set a number of points required to be shared (e.g. report back the 10 most important points). The key questions that should be covered in the student’s research are:

• How does it work?

• What are the environmental impacts of using natural gas in this respect?

• What existing fuel or technology is natural gas being used as an alternative to?

• How is the application being used in Australia?

Once students have had an opportunity to research their topics they should share their findings allowing each group member to complete the summary framework on Natural Gas Uses that is provided. This should then be used to reinforce the students’ understanding through teacher facilitated discussion and questioning. To further consolidate student understanding students could produce their own brochure, poster, or other presentation on the uses of natural gas.


Learning Experience 1.5: ‘Overcoming a large problem: LNG’ This learning experience requires students to access the information sheets on ‘Overcoming a Large Problem – LNG’. This information was taken from BP Energy Business Booklet (2005-2006): Gas, Power and Renewable Energy.

The learning experience examines the use of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as a means of economically transporting natural gas. Once provided with the text source: ‘Overcoming a Large Problem – LNG’, the teacher should adopt a reading strategy to allow the class to familiarise


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themselves with the text. It is suggested the students record main ideas (keywords, ideas, phrases). Alternatively, on a piece of paper students could record what they consider to be the 5-10 most important pieces of information that help them develop their understanding of the potential of natural gas as an energy resource. These should be shared and used as discussion prompts to clarify student understanding. Students should also consult an atlas to identify the locations mentioned in the text so they understand the extent of distance between suppliers and purchasers of natural gas.

Students are to complete the note-taking framework to summarise the information provided on LNG. The framework requires students to summarise the information in regards to the problem; the solution; the challenges; overcoming the challenges; and the final outcome and future. Once completed the class should discuss the information they have collected. The headings from the note-taking framework could be placed on the classroom board and the student responses recorded under each. Once fully complete each student should record any additional information that they don’t have on their sheets.


Learning Experience 1.6: ‘Making Ice Cream without a freezer’To bring natural gas to the customer, it has to be delivered by pipeline or turned into a liquid by cooling it to a very low temperature, when it is known as liquefied natural gas (LNG).

In special plants, natural gas is cooled to a temperature of – 161°C. Liquefying the gas reduces the volume by about six hundred times, which means it is possible to transport large amounts of gas economically by sea in special ships called LNG carriers. To simulate a similar process the ‘Making Ice Cream without a freezer’ is useful.

The experiment ‘Making Ice Cream without a freezer’ demonstrates how ice has to absorb energy in order to melt, changing the phase of water from a solid to a liquid. When you use ice to cool the ingredients for ice cream, the energy is absorbed from the ingredients and from the outside environment (like your hands, if you are holding the baggie of ice!). Water close to freezing point and salt mixed together results in subzero water. The temperature drops below zero because latent energy in the water is consumed to break the bonds of the solid salt. This makes the icy watery sludge colder than it was before, which is how your ice cream freezes. Ideally, you would make your ice cream using ‘ice cream salt’, which is just salt sold as large crystals instead of the small crystals you see in table salt. The larger crystals take more time to dissolve in the water around the ice, which allows for even cooling of the ice cream.

To conduct the experiment in class the following equipment is required:

Equipment

• 1 cup cold milk

• 2 Tbsp sugar

• 2 drops of vanilla essence

• Ice (about 3-4 standard domestic trays of ice per group)

• 4 Tbsp rock salt

• 1 small plastic zipper type bag (typically used for lunches)

• 1 large plastic zipper type bag (holds about 1 litre)

• 1 small towel

• 1 ice cream cone per group member

• Thermometer which can read subzero temperatures


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To conduct the experiment the following method should be followed:

1) Place the milk, sugar and vanilla essence into the small zip bag ensuring as much air as possible is removed before it is sealed.

2) Place the ice and salt into the large zip bag.

3) Place the small zip bag into the large zip bag.

4) Using the towel to hold the bag, shake the bag continuously for about 5-10 minutes.

5) When the ice cream becomes solid, open the outer bag and with a thermometer, measure the temperature of the ice/salt mixture.

6) Clean off the outside of the small bag and dish out the ice cream into the cones.

After conducting the experiment the students should use their results in their record table to complete the discussion questions. These questions should form the basis of classroom discussion to reinforce and consolidate student understanding. If determined suitable by the teacher the students should present a science laboratory report based on the ice cream experiment. The report should have the following sub-headings: aim, hypothesis, materials, method, observations and discussion.


Learning Experience 1.7: ‘Natural Gas and the Environment’ This learning experience requires students to access the information sheets on ‘Natural Gas and the Environment’. This information was taken from BP Energy Business Booklet (2005-2006): Gas, Power and Renewable Energy.

The students are set the task of designing an informative poster that presents the environmental benefits of using natural gas as an energy source. The students will need to access library and/or internet resources to collect additional information on the benefits natural gas provides in relation to current environmental problems such as:

• Ozone pollution in cities.

• Acid rain (caused by the presence of sulphur and nitrous oxides in fuels).

• Emissions of carbon dioxide that are generally considered to contribute to global warming through the ‘enhanced greenhouse effect’.

Students should use a structured overview note-taking framework to collect their information. Students should be encouraged to be selective about the information they incorporate into their poster. Students should use the website www.bp.com as a starting point for their research.


Learning Experience 1.8: Guest SpeakerTeachers may make contact with BP to request a guest speaker to come to the school to talk on the topic of natural gas production and BP’s current work in that field. See contact details at the start of the BP Energy Education Programme pack. A guest speaker handout is provided for students to record and use the information provided in the presentation.

Guest speakers are provided subject to availability. To request a guest speaker please contact the BPEEP Coordinator on (08) 9419 9623.

Alternatively, the teacher could organise a guest speaker from another related industry.



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www.bp.com

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Learning Experience 1.9: ‘Careers in Natural Gas Industry’As an additional focus during guest speaker presentation the teacher may opt to incorporate an Energy Careers focus in which students question and gain specific details of the speaker’s career, using the framework provided. Likewise students can access career information resources in their library or on the internet to gain this information about a range of careers involved in the energy industry. Those specific to this module on the Natural Gas Industry include:

• Geologist

• Geophysicist

• Petroleum or Reservoir Engineer

• Petrophysicist

• Drilling Engineer

• Chemical Engineer

• Environmental Engineer

• Civil Engineer

• Materials Engineer

• Project Engineer

• Facilities Engineer

• Logistics

• Procurement

• Surveyors

• Petroleum Technologist

• Marketers

The teacher may opt to randomly allocate 3-5 careers to students who research their allocated career then report back to a small group comprising each career.


Learning Experience 1.10: ‘Natural Gas Crossword’This learning experience is included as an additional activity to be used as filler or revision activity at a time determined by the teacher. The students are provided with a crossword with the answers (keywords) already placed in the grid. Their task is to develop appropriate clues for each term using their knowledge of natural gas and its uses.

Students could also apply their knowledge to create their own puzzles, sleuths and crosswords that can be shared with other class members to revise key understandings.


Learning Experience 1.11: Paragraph TaskUsing the ‘Think, Plan, Write, Edit and Present’ paragraph framework students, under test conditions, should respond to the following question:

“Natural Gas is a fossil fuel so why is it considered an important alternative to producing electricity over traditional coal fuelled power stations?”

For this written task it is recommended students be permitted to use their notes to assist in completing this task.


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To enhance student application of the editing process it is suggested students take drafted paragraphs (THINK, PLAN and WRITE stages of framework) home to complete the EDIT and PRESENT stages. A rubric is provided to assess student’s application of the paragraph framework (numerically based). Teachers may opt to use ‘one off’ paragraphs as further evidence of student attainment of levels in certain aspects of Learning Area outcomes.

NOTE – Paragraph Rubric and Edit Checklist are located in the appendices.

Paragraph Framework – Explanation:

• The initial part of the paragraph framework requires the students to brainstorm all relevant information to the main idea of the paragraph. This is the ‘ThINK’ component.

• With a set of initial thoughts students plan the structure of the content in their paragraph. Using the ‘hamburger’ framework students sort ideas into the four main types of sentences: Statement (or Topic Sentence), Explanation (or Developing Sentence/s), Examples (or Supporting Sentence/s) and Conclusion (or Concluding Sentence). This is the ‘PLAN’ component.

• Students draft their paragraph at this stage, using their plan as a guide. Emphasis should be placed on the students identifying each type of sentence to ensure the paragraph is correctly structured. This can be done by a colour a scheme for each sentence type or simply labelling after sentences with TS (Topic Sentence), DS (Developing Sentence), SS (Supporting Sentence) and CS (Concluding Sentence). This is the ‘WRITE’ component.

• Once drafted, students should edit their paragraph. Spelling, grammar and punctuation should all be a focus, as well as ensuring all four types of sentences correctly structure the paragraph. As well as self, peer or parental editing should be encouraged. This is the ‘EDIT’ component.

• Once a full edit process is completed the student is ready to present their paragraph. All corrections should be made and sentence identification (i.e. TS, DS, SS and CS) removed. This is the ‘PRESENT’ component.


Learning Experience 1.12: Assessment Task: ‘North West Shelf Joint Venture’

Cross Curricular Opportunity

The major assessment task is primarily driven by the Society and Environment process outcome of Investigation, Communication and Participation. The Society and Environment outcome Resources and Science Outcomes Earth and Beyond and Energy and Change are the focus conceptual outcomes for the task. There are also possible extended cross curricular links with Technology and Enterprise given the tasks potential for presentations such as power point.

Prior to this task it is recommended most if not all of the other Learning Experiences in Module 9: ‘Natural Gas’ are covered in class. All learning experiences would provide very useful information to assist students in demonstrating their understanding of the topic.

The assessment task suits either individual student or group completion and presentations – the teacher should determine this. Students pretend they are members of an independent agency that is investigating the natural gas operations off Western Australia’s North West coastline. Their task requires them to research and present a detailed report on the North West Shelf Joint Venture. This report should be presented in a form that would enable it to be accessed by international energy resource consultants.


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As part of their initial planning the students should develop their three levels of focus questions to guide their research and final report structure. As a start, some areas of research to focus on include:

• Why is LNG so important to the Australian economy?

• What are the environmental impacts of using LNG?

• What are the major uses of LNG in Australia?

• What are the advantages of LNG over other energy sources?

• What is the North West Shelf Joint Venture?

• What contribution does the venture contribute to the community?

• What are the future directions of the venture?

The students’ report presentation should be negotiated with the teacher, possibly including:

• A power point presentation

• A written report

• A poster

In addition to text information, the students should be encouraged to locate, develop and include maps, pictures, diagrams and graphs/tables to support their report. It must also include a reference section where they acknowledge where they got their information from.

The following websites are a good source of information and good places to start research.

North West Shelf Gas: http://www.nwsg.com.au/

North West Shelf LNG: http://www.nwsalng.com.au/

EIA – Energy Basics – Natural Gas: http://www.eia.doe.gov/basics/naturalgas_basics.html

BP: www.bp.com

As part of the ICP Outcome assessment students will need to submit all aspects of the I.C.P. ladder process, including:

• A3 Planning Sheet (task in own words, goals, 3-Levels of Questioning, brainstorm, reference list).

• All your note-taking (including the use of a variety of frameworks: H.A.K.D., structured overview, PMI, SWOT, keyword summary …).

• A learning journal (including initial prediction, mid-way review, final self-evaluation and on-going daily progress reflections).

• All their draft work (including all paragraphs drafted using the paragraph framework).

• Their good copy (be proud of what you submit).


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http://www.nwsg.com.au/

http://www.nwsalng.com.au/

http://www.eia.doe.gov/basics/naturalgas_basics.html

www.bp.com

natural gas


Teachers should provide students with a blank ICP ladder that guides the student through the research assessment process. This is supported in the planning stage by the ICP planning sheet (should be photocopied A3 size). Both are available in the BPEEP appendices. The planning sheet provides a framework for students to explain the task in their own words, consider the outcomes they may cover, set their assessment goals, develop their literal, inferential and evaluative focus research questions and consider the sources they will utilise and the note-taking frameworks they will use to collect their information.

The teacher should encourage students to use appropriate note-taking frameworks for collecting their information including: PMI (Pluses, Minuses and Interesting), SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) and table summary (For, Against, Neutral). Students should utilise all sources of information available to them: library, newspaper, internet, questionnaire, guest speaker, TV documentaries, letters to industry requesting information packs etcetera.

An assessment rubric is provided incorporating the Society and Environment outcomes Investigation, Communication and Participation and Resources, as well as the Science Earth and Beyond and Energy and Change Outcomes.


Monitoring and Evaluation:

Student understanding of Natural Gas as an alternative energy option is assessed through:

• The completion of learning experience tasks.

• A science laboratory activity.

• A paragraph task for which a rubric is provided in the appendix section of the BPEEP resource file to assess the student’s ability to construct a well structured paragraph. Paragraphs should be used by the teacher as evidence toward the attainment of conceptual outcome levels.

• A research assessment task, requiring students to present a report on the North West Shelf Joint Venture. The task sheet, supporting frameworks and rubric are provided.

Teachers are encouraged to utilise informal assessment practices throughout the module to continually monitor and consolidate student understandings.


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Name:

Class:

Date:

Introducing Natural Gas

The information from this worksheet is based on Fact Sheet 13: Natural Gas from BP’s Carbon Footprint Toolkit.

Read the information on natural gas and complete the activities that follow

Natural Gas is a flexible energy resource. It can be used to generate electricity in power stations and it can be piped directly into homes to run heating systems and cookers. Natural gas emits less carbon dioxide than coal or oil when burned. It also releases more energy per unit mass.

Scientists are still not sure about the origins of natural gas but it is thought likely that oil and gas are formed together millions of years ago. Dead organic matter is thought to have built up on the bottom of oceans, riverbeds or swamps, mixing with mud and sand. Over time, more sediment piled on top and the resultant heat and pressure changed the organic layer into kerogen, a dark and waxy substance.

Over time, the kerogen molecules break up into shorter and lighter molecules of carbon and hydrogen atoms. These molecules form crude oil and natural gas.

Natural gas is an ideal short-term way to decrease emissions while use of renewable resources develops, because:

• It is relatively clean when it burns compared with oil and coal.

• Natural-gas fired power stations are more efficient that conventional coal and oil-fired power stations.

Write definitions for the terms identified in bold in the text above.

TERM DEFINITION

Name three uses of natural gas.

1)

2)

3)

Learning Experience 1.1

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Construct a flow chart to show the steps involved in the formation of natural gas. Use text and diagrams in your flow chart to illustrate the steps involved.

Is natural gas a renewable or non-renewable resource? Explain your answer.

What advantages does natural gas have over oil and coal?

Why is natural gas an ideal short term solution but not a long-term solution to the world’s energy requirements?

Learning Experience 1.1 (contd.)

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Name:

Class:

Date:

Using Natural Gas to Create Electricity

The information from this worksheet is based on Fact Sheet 13: Natural Gas from BP’s Carbon Footprint Toolkit.

Use the information on natural gas to complete the following activities.

Natural gas contains carbon and hydrogen. The chemical reaction between the carbon and hydrogen in the gas and oxygen in the air (burning) gives out heat energy which can be used directly for providing heat in homes. In power stations, the hot exhaust gases formed by this reaction are used to spin turbines, which in turn spin electrical generators.

Modern gas-fired power stations are generally ‘combined cycle gas turbine’ (CCGT) based power stations. This means that the hot exhaust gases from the gas turbine are used to boil water to produce high pressure steam to spin a turbine that spins another generator, producing more electricity. In traditional plants, the waste heat that is used to spin the steam turbines would be ‘lost’ into the atmosphere.

CCGT power plants can reach efficiencies of up to 60% if only electricity is being produced. This means that for every 100 joules of chemical energy contained in the natural gas, approximately 60 joules of electrical energy are produced. This is 35-50% better than a conventional power plant.

If the water heat from the power plant is also used for space or room heating, CCGT power plants can reach efficiencies of up to 85%.

Natural gas is often called the cleanest of the fossil fuels. This is because natural gas contains more energy than coal or oil, so burning these other fossil fuels emits more carbon dioxide per mega joule of energy produced.

DIAGRAM: Energy transformations


Light Energy from the Sun

Kinetic energy of burning gas

Chemical potential energy in living marine plants

Kinetic energy of spinning turbine

Chemical potential energy in living marine animals

Electrical energy

Chemical potential energy in buried gas

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What two chemicals make up natural gas?

What does CCGT stand for?

In your own words explain how CCGT power stations use the heat from the gas turbine to minimise waste and increase efficiency.

How many joules of energy are produced for every 100 joules of energy contained in natural gas?

How much more efficient is this than traditional power plants?

How can CCGT plants reach an efficiency of almost 85%? What important advantage does natural gas have over the other fossil fuels?

Use the energy transformation diagram to answer the following questions.

What is the original source of energy for natural gas?

This energy is then transferred to two different sources before it is stored in natural gas. What are these two sources?


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How would this energy have been transferred to these sources?

How is the chemical potential energy in natural gas transformed into electrical energy? How many steps are involved in this process?

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©BP Australia Pty Ltd 2008 BP energy education program module 9: natural gasPAGE 24

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The Potential of Natural Gas

Source: BP Energy Business Booklets 2005-2006: Gas, Power and Renewable Energy.

Throughout the world people are increasingly concerned about the impact of energy consumption and economic growth on the environment. In the global energy market, the demand is for cleaner energy as well as energy services that reduce costs and emissions. BP’s Gas, Power and Renewable business is responding to this growing worldwide demand for cleaner energy. The business supplies natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) to new and existing markets, provides energy for large businesses, and develops and markets renewable energy sources.

Natural gas The 21st century has been called the “century of natural gas”. Although natural gas has been used for more than 100 years, it is only in the last 40 years that it has become a vital part of the world’s energy balance, and in 2004 accounted for nearly 25% of the world’s energy consumption. Demand for gas is currently growing faster than any other fossil fuel.

One of the benefits of natural gas as a fuel, is that it emits less environmentally damaging products than oil or coal, for example.

What is natural gas? Natural gas is composed mainly of the gas methane, which is the simplest of the hydrocarbon molecules (chemical formula CH4). Methane is colourless and odourless, although an additive is used to give the natural gas a ‘smell’ so that users can detect leaks.

Scientists believe that natural gas and oil were formed from the remains of plants and tiny marine creatures millions of years ago. In fact, natural gas is found in the same geological conditions as oil, either by itself or associated with oil reserves.

Because natural gas is largely composed of methane, it requires less processing than oil before it can be used. Normally water and other types of gas present (known as natural gas liquids) need to be extracted. Sometimes natural gas contains traces of sulphur (which is known as ‘sour gas’), which also needs to be removed.

Natural gas liquids (NGLs) is a collective term for the mixtures of ethane, propane and butane gas, extracted from natural gas. Propane and butane are also sometimes referred to as liquefied petroleum gases (LPG). NGLs are used as raw materials in oil refining and petrochemical manufacturing.


Name:

Class:

Date:

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Figure 1: Proved natural gas reserves at end 2007

Figure 2: natural gas consumption per capita in 2007

Figure 3: Movements of natural gas around the world in 2007


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Activities

1. The first sentence of the text states: “Throughout the world people are increasingly concerned about the impact of energy consumption and economic growth on the environment”. Brainstorm what you know and understand to support this statement.

2. Why would the 21st century be called “the century of natural gas”?

3. What are the current trends of natural gas demand?


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4. Using your knowledge of oil formation, explain how natural gas is formed. Use diagrams to assist your explanation.

5. Explain each of the following:

LNG

LPG

NGL


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6. Study Figures 1, 2 and 3

Write 5 sentences that could be used to describe natural gas production and consumption patterns around the world.

7. List the ways natural gas is currently used:

In your home:

In your community:


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natural gas


The Main Uses of Natural Gas


Domestic heating

Natural Gas is a very convenient form of energy for the home. Since the discovery of North West Shelf gas, it has become a popular choice for domestic hot water and central heat systems.

US

ES

OF N

AT

UR

AL G

AS

Industrial heating

Natural gas is used in many industries for heating and producing steam which can be used to power generators and turbines.

Gas to Lquids Technology

This technology converts natural gas into liquid fuels. Although one process for doing this has been known since the 1920’s, it hasn’t generally been economic. BP and other major companies are today investigating new gas to liquids technology that, among other benefits, could be used to exploit smaller, remote gas reserves far from pipelines and turn these into valuable fuels

Natural Gas as a Road Fuel

Compressed natural gas (CNG) is being used as a fuel for buses and commercial vehicles in cities where low emissions make it particularly attractive. Car makers around the world are developing vehicles to run on natural gas. Some run on natural gas only and others can run on natural gas or petrol (called bi-fuel vehicles). Converting to CNG reduces vehicle exhaust emissions of carbon monoxide and non-methane hydrocarbons by about 85%.

Petrochemical Production

Natural Gas and natural gas liquids can be used as alternatives to oil refinery products to manufacture the basic building blocks for petrochemicals (chemicals from oil) and plastics.

Power Generation

With growing concerns over emissions from coal and oil-fired power station, there has been a rapid growth in the use of natural gas for generating electricity. Gas is not only less polluting, but the new combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) technology has made electricity generation far more efficient

The information in the table above provides a brief overview of some of the main uses of natural gas.

Choose one of the uses of natural gas given and complete an internet based search to find out more detail about this application.

Your research should fall under the following four headings

• How does it work?

• What are the environmental impacts of using natural gas in this respect?

• What existing fuel or technology is natural gas being used as an alternative to?

• How is the application being used in Australia?


Name:

Class:

Date:

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A Use of Natural Gas

Use of Natural Gas

How does it work?

What are the environmental impacts of using natural gas in this respect?

What existing fuel or technology is natural gas an alternative to?

How is this application being used in Australia?


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Learning Experience 1.4 (contd.)S

umm

ary

of U

ses

of N

atur

al G

as

Use

ho

w d

oes

it w

ork

?W

hat

are

th

e en

viro

nm

enta

l im

pac

ts?

Wh

at e

xist

ing

fu

el o

r te

chn

olo

gy

is n

atu

ral g

as

bei

ng

use

d a

s an

al

tern

ativ

e to

?

ho

w is

th

e ap

plic

atio

n b

ein

g

use

d in

au

stra

lia?

Dom

estic

Hea

ting

Indu

stri

al H

eatin

g

Gas

to

Liq

uids

Tec

hnol

ogy

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Use

ho

w d

oes

it w

ork

?W

hat

are

th

e en

viro

nm

enta

l im

pac

ts?

Wh

at e

xist

ing

fu

el o

r te

chn

olo

gy

is n

atu

ral g

as

bei

ng

use

d a

s an

al

tern

ativ

e to

?

ho

w is

th

e ap

plic

atio

n b

ein

g

use

d in

au

stra

lia?

Nat

ural

Gas

as

a ro

ad f

uel

Pet

roch

emic

al P

rodu

ctio

n

Pow

er G

ener

atio

n

Sum

mar

y of

Use

s of

Nat

ural

Gas

(con

tinu

ed)

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Name:

Class:

Date:

Overcoming a large problem – LNG


Despite its many advantages, natural gas has suffered from one major problem as a fuel. Because it is a gas in normal atmospheric conditions, you need a much bigger volume of it than either coal or oil to produce a given amount of energy. This means gas cannot be economically transported by a road tanker like oil.

To bring natural gas to the customer, it has to be delivered by pipeline or turned into a liquid by cooling it to a very low temperature, when it is known as liquefied natural gas (LNG).

In many cases, some of the world’s largest gas fields, for example in Africa, the Middle East, South East Asia and Trinidad, are too far from the places where gas is most in demand. The local demand for gas would be too small to justify major investments in pipeline networks. Thus, the gas is usually used for local electricity generation in power stations (in the case of offshore gas close to the coast) or it is liquefied in local facilities for transport by sea to where it is needed.

In special plants, natural gas is cooled to a temperature of – 161°C. Liquefying the gas reduces the volume by about six hundred times, which means it is possible to transport large amounts of gas economically by sea in special ships called LNG carriers. One of the earliest LNG schemes in which BP was involved was to transport LNG from offshore Abu Dhabi in the Arabian Gulf to Japan, where it was used in Tokyo to generate electricity.

As the cost of turning the gas into LNG and the special ships needed to transport it was so high, LNG projects had to be based on contractual agreements that ensured producers would have one assured customer for several years to justify the investment. This is very different from oil, where crude or refined oil can be produced and transported to wherever it can command the best price, without necessarily knowing where that might be.

However new technology has driven down the costs of the facilities needed to liquefy the gas, so much so that LNG can now be produced without first having an assured customer, but can be sold competitively, like oil, on world markets.

The North West Shelf Joint Venture, of which BP is a part, has fixed term contracts to sell LNG over periods varying from around 7 years to 25 years to customers in China, Japan and Korea. “Spot” cargoes (cargoes sold outside of long term contractual agreements) have also been sold to customers in Europe, North America and Asia.

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Summarise the article using the note taking framework provided. Remember to put the information into your own words – don’t copy!


OVERCOMING THE CHALLENGES

THE PROBLEM

THE SOLUTION

THE CHALLENGES

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Name:

Class:

Date: Learning Experience 1.6

Making Ice Cream without a Freezer

Aim:

To make ice cream without the need for a freezer

Materials:

• 1 cup cold milk

• 2 Tbsp sugar

• 2 drops of vanilla essence

• Ice (about 3-4 standard domestic trays of ice per group)

• 4 Tbsp rock salt

• 1 small plastic zipper type bag (typically used for lunches)

• 1 large plastic zipper type bag (holds about 1 litre)

• 1 small towel

• 1 ice cream cone per group member

• Thermometer which can read subzero temperatures

Method:

1) Place the milk, sugar and vanilla essence into the small zip bag ensuring as much air as possible is removed before it is sealed.

2) Place the ice and salt into the large zip bag.

3) Place the small zip bag into the large zip bag.

4) Using the towel to hold the bag, shake the bag continuously for about 5-10 minutes.

5) When the ice cream becomes solid, open the outer bag and with a thermometer, measure the temperature of the ice/salt mixture.

6) Clean off the outside of the small bag and dish out the ice cream into the cones.

Results:

Observations

Temperature of ice/salt mixture: ____________________________________________________________

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Discussion:How can something get colder when it is going from a solid to a liquid?

What other uses could you think of for this phenomenon?


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Name:

Class:

Date:

Natural Gas and the Environment


The lighter the fuel, the cleaner it burns. Methane contains the least amount of carbon per molecule of any hydrocarbon fuel. This mean it produces less carbon dioxide when it is burnt in domestic boilers or power stations.

As natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel, it can improve the quality of the air when it is used to replace coal and oil. In fact, natural gas produces hardly any atmospheric emissions of sulphur dioxide or small particles of matter and much less of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide that the burning of other fossil fuels.

These benefits mean using more natural gas instead of coal or oil can make a positive contribution to addressing three of the issues that concern most people:

Ozone pollution in cities

Acid rain (caused by the presence of sulphur and nitrous oxides in fuels)

Emissions of carbon dioxide that are generally considered to contribute to global warming through the ‘enhanced greenhouse effect’

As an example of the environmental benefits of natural gas, the gas that will be processed through the BP LNG terminal in Guangdong in China will replace brown coal, which is currently burned throughout the country. Brown coal produces 80% more carbon dioxide emissions that natural gas.

Your task is to design a poster that will inform other students in your school on how the use of natural gas can address three main environmental concerns

of people in the community.

✓ Your poster needs to be bright, colourful and informative

✓ Do not copy information straight from the information page. You need to put it in terms that everyone can understand – use your own words.

✓ Come up with a catchy slogan to title your poster.

✓ Illustrate your poster with relevant pictures and diagrams.

✓ Use headings and sub-headings.


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Name:

Class:

Date:

Guest Speaker

Complete the following section before the guest speaker arrives

The guest presenter is a

What do I think their job entails them doing day-to-day?

What do I think their job has to do with what I am learning about in school?

What are three questions I would like to ask the guest speaker in order to find out more about they do?

1)

2)

3)

What are three questions I would like to ask the guest speaker in order to find out more about the topic I am studying at the moment?

4)

5)

6)


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Complete the following section while the guest speaker is presenting to your class.

Guest Presenter’s Name: _________________________________________________________________

Guest Presenter’s Role: ___________________________________________________________________

Where do they work? _____________________________________________________________________

What training did they have to do to get the role?

Use the space below to record any interesting information the guest speaker may tell your class and to record the answers to any questions they may answer.


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Complete this T-Chart after the guest speaker has finished their presentation

What I learnt how my ideas changed What I’d still like to know


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Name:

Class:

Date:

Energy Careers

Job title:

Job description:

Qualifications:

Opportunities:

Salary:


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Job title:

Job description:

Qualifications:

Opportunities:

Salary:


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Name:

Class:

Date:

Natural Gas Crossword

You have been given the answer to a crossword. Your task is to create clues for each of the terms using your knowledge of natural gas and its uses.

N A T U R A L G A S

R C U

C A I L N G

C A R B O N D P

G S R h

T P A U

O O I L R

R N D

T I

h E A T I N G O

T X

I I

C A R B O N D I O X I D E

A N E

R

F O S S I L F U E L

U

E M I S S I O N S

L U

K E R O G E N

CLUES

_________________________________________ ___________________________________________

_________________________________________ ___________________________________________

_________________________________________ ___________________________________________

_________________________________________ ___________________________________________

_________________________________________ ___________________________________________

_________________________________________ ___________________________________________

_________________________________________ ___________________________________________

_________________________________________ ___________________________________________

_________________________________________ ___________________________________________

_________________________________________ ___________________________________________

_________________________________________ ___________________________________________

_________________________________________ ___________________________________________


5.

7.

9.

10.

11.

12.

14.

13.

8.

2.1. 3. 4.

6.

ACROSS DOWN

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Name:

Class:

Date: Learning Experience 1.11

Paragraph Framework

The main idea of the paragraph is …

Natural Gas is a fossil fuel so why is it considered an important alternative to producing electricity over traditional coal fuelled power stations?

THINK

PLAN

Statement (Topic Sentence T.S.)

Explanation (Developing Sentence D.S.)

Examples (Supporting Sentence S.S.)

Conclusion (Concluding Sentence C.S.)

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WRITE (Identify each type of sentence using T.S., D.S., S.S., C.S.

EDIT

Spelling Punctuation Grammar Sentences Keywords

PRESENT


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Name:

Class:

Date:

North West Shelf Joint Venture

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The gas fields offshore of WA produce a significant volume of gas for the North West Shelf Joint Venture. Part of this gas is sent by pipeline to Perth all the way from Karratha to be used by all the industrial and domestic customers. The major part of the gas remaining is then turned into liquefied natural gas (LNG). LNG is produced by the North West Shelf Joint Venture, of which BP is a part. LNG is then loaded into specially refrigerated ships and sent to international customers such as Japan and China. This generates a lot of revenue for the state of Western Australia.

You are a member of an independent agency that is investigating the natural gas operations off Western Australia’s North West coastline. Your task requires you to research and present a detailed report on the North West Shelf Joint Venture. This report should be presented in a form that would enable it to be accessed by international energy resource consultants.

As part of your initial planning you should develop your three levels of focus questions to guide your research and final report structure. As a start, some areas of research to focus on include:

• Why is LNG so important to the Australian economy?

• What are the environmental impacts of using LNG?

• What are the major uses of LNG in Australia?

• What are the advantages of LNG over other energy sources?

• What is the North West Shelf Joint Venture?

• What contribution does the venture contribute to the community?

• What are the future directions of the venture?

Your report can be presented in the following forms

• A power point presentation

• A written report

• A poster

In addition to text information, your report should include maps, pictures, diagrams and graphs/tables. It must also include a reference section where you acknowledge where you got your information from.

The following websites are a good source of information and good places to start you research.

North West Shelf Gas: http://www.nwsg.com.au/

North West Shelf LNG: http://www.nwsalng.com.au/

EIA – Energy Basics – Natural Gas: http://www.eia.doe.gov/basics/naturalgas_basics.html

Australian Parliament research paper “Australia’s natural gas: Issues and trends”: http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/RP/2007-08/08RP25.htm


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http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/RP/2007-08/08RP25.htm

natural gas


RubricLevel Earth and Beyond Energy and Change Resource Investigation,

Communication and Participation

2 Identify uses for LNG Describe the different ways LNG can be used

Categorise energy resources.

Identify ways energy resources are used.

Recognise that people engage in different activities, utilising energy resources.

With teacher direction you can follow an investigation and collect information.

You are able to describe what you have found out and present this from your own point of view.

3 Relate the location of the North West Shelf to its importance to Australia.

Relate emissions to the changes they cause to the atmosphere.

Recognise that LNG is an energy source for many different requirements.

Understand that different energy resources and activities can be grouped into categories.

Explain how people manage and use energy resources.

Categorise different forms of activities people engage in, utilising energy resources.

With teacher guidance you can select aspects of a topic to investigate and record information from more than one source.

You are able to draw simple inferences from his information to support a point of view.

4 Understand that natural resources can be used to provide energy requirements

Predict the changes in emission levels with the widespread use of LNG

Understand the link between emission levels and the greenhouse effect.

Compare different sources of energy in terms of their ease of use, cost and effects on living things and the environment.

Examine alternative choices to utilising available energy resources.

Explain how people’s circumstance and decisions reflect their choices in accessing energy resources.

Examine how access to energy resources can be managed more effectively.

You can negotiate an investigation and collect and record accurate information from different sources and points of view.

You are able to combine this information to support and make simple generalisations in your presentation which presents an informed opinion.


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Level Earth and Beyond Energy and Change Resource Investigation, Communication

and Participation

5 Assess LNG as an alternative energy resource to oil and coal.

Explain how LNG is utilised now and how it might be utilised in the future.

Use a greenhouse model to describe how human activity and resource use can impact our global environment.

Predict possible trends in global warming if the way LNG is used changes.

Analyse the efficiency of applications that use LNG in terms of energy input and output.

Examine the link between energy resource availability and usage.

Evaluate the factors that determine the availability of energy resources.

Examine how people can manage their available energy resources more effectively.

You can plan an investigation and use appropriate data collecting and recording techniques.

You use discipline language to explain patterns in the evidence and to draw conclusions.

Your presentation shows that you have considered facts, opinions and motives for particular viewpoints.


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References for module 9

BP Energy Business Booklets 2005-2006: Gas, Power and Renewable Energy.

Fact Sheet 13: Natural Gas from the Carbon Footprint Toolkit

www.bp.com





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Notes:

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Notes:

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This book has been produced using paper from mills that have ISO4001 (International Environment Management Standard) accreditation and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) accreditation. These standards promote forest certification and product labeling to allow papermakers to identify wood pulp that comes from well managed forests with sustainable reforestation policies. FSC is the only eco label endorsed by WWF Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace.

Documents

bp_module 09_Natural Gas.pdf