RJA#9

9a: Thesis Statement: When Will Another Natural Gas Boom Take Place In Western Colorado.
9b: My argument would be all the things that factor in the Gas Boom coming back in Western Colorado such as environmental concerns, land rights, supply and demand, and other such things like that.
9c: I. The Natural Gas Industry And What It Does
A. What Is Natural Gas?
B. What has Natural Gas done for America?
II. What Reasons Could or Could Not The Natural Gas Boom Come Back To Western Colorado.
A. Interviews From Some Experts ( Their Thoughts Put Into Words.)
B. Research on The History Of The Reasons Natural Gas Has Came And Went In Western, CO.
C. What The Experts Say About The Future Of The Industry In The Area
III. Why Do Towns On The Western Slope Need Or Don't Need The Natural Gas Fields
A. Environmental Concerns
B. Land Use
C. Boost The Economy

Journal#8

What Is Natural Gas and History of Use

Natural gas is generally considered a nonrenewable fossil fuel. (There are some renewable sources of natural gas; we'll discuss these later.) Natural gas is called a fossil fuel because most scientists believe that natural gas was formed from the remains of tiny sea animals and plants that died 200-400 million years ago.

When these tiny sea animals and plants died, they sank to the bottom of the oceans where they were buried by layers of sand and silt. Over the years, the layers of sand and silt became thousands of feet thick, subjecting the energy-rich plant and animal remains to enormous pressure. Most scientists believe that the pressure, combined with the heat of the earth, changed this organic mixture into petroleum and natural gas. Eventually, concentrations of natural gas became trapped in the rock layers much like a wet household sponge traps water.

Raw natural gas is a mixture of different gases. Its main ingredient is methane, a natural compound that is formed whenever plant and animal matter decays. By itself, methane is odorless, colorless, and tasteless. As a safety measure, natural gas companies add a chemical odorant (it smells like rotten eggs) so escaping gas can be detected. Natural gas should not be confused with gasoline, which is made from petroleum.

History of Natural Gas

The ancient peoples of Greece, Persia, and India discovered natural gas many centuries ago. The people were mystified by the burning springs created when natural gas seeping from cracks in the ground was ignited by lightning. They sometimes built temples around these eternal flames so they could worship the fire.

About 2,500 years ago, the Chinese recognized that natural gas could be put to work. The Chinese piped the gas from shallow wells and burned it under large pans to evaporate sea water for salt.

Natural gas was first used in America to illuminate the streets of Baltimore in 1816. Soon after, in 1821, William Hart dug the first successful American natural gas well in Fredonia, New York. His well was 27 feet deep, quite shallow compared to today's wells. The Fredonia Gas Light Company opened its doors in 1858 as the nation's first natural gas company. By 1900, natural gas had been discovered in 17 states. In the past 40 years, the use of natural gas has grown dramatically. Today, natural gas accounts for about a quarter of the energy we use.

8a: Natural gas in a nonrenewable source. It is a fossil fuel because it is made from tiny sea animals. These animals over 200-400 million years turn into this fossil fuel and produce natural gas main ingrediant which is methane gas. That is the reason for the smell of rotten eggs. About 2,500 years ago the Chinese found that it could be put to use. Natural gas was first used in America to illuminate the street of Baltimore in 1816. Today natural gas accounts for about a quarter of the energy we use.

8b: Posted on two classmates posts.

Journal #7

Journal #7
7a: The four sources I found was google which I rated a 4. The Auroria Library was another source I found which I gave a 3. The other was a book from the Metro State Library which was called Natural Gas Fields in Wyoming I gave it a 1. It was a government document. The fourth source was In Suggest. I could not get the site running so I gave it a 0.
7b: I gave Steven and Sally suggestions for their topics I hope it they went through.

Journal #6
6a:I researched my topic on google. I decided to go general to see what I could come up with. I found thousands of hits on the topic but then I made it more of a specialized search I came up with hundreds of hits. The keywords I used were Natural Gas Fields in Western Colorado the Rise and Decline over several years. The date of the search was 3/2/2010. I would give it a 4 on how much I found and the information was quite recent. But I would still like to try to look up more sites that you suggested.
6b: I looked up under the Auroria Library search site. I found all kinds of good articles on my topic. Although they were a couple of years old the research and information. The date of the search was on 3/3/2010. I had also a couple of hundred hits. On the scale I would give it a 3. Good information but not recent enough, but still I can use it.
6c: What I plan on doing is interviewing Don Littleton he is a Landman in the state of Colorado. Getting the legitimate information from him to start a basis on paper. Then if I can set up a quick interview with Josh Penry and find out what the future is with drilling for natural gas in the future. Then doing more research on what the sites that the instructor has given the class.

Journal Assingnment #5

JA 5a: I got a book from the aurioria libarary. I could not find any books on Natural Gas Fields in Colorado this one was in Wyoming. The name is Petroleum And Natural-Gas Fields In Wyoming. It was written by Ralph H. Espach and H. Dale Nichols. It was from the University of Wyoming. There were some maps but the book did not really give me that great of information on my topic. The internet would probably be my best resource. The only thing that it did offer was a good general idea of how the gas fields work. The place it was printed was in Washington in 1941. It was also a government document. The book just mainly went over where they were going to drill in Wyoming it is a little out dated but that was all I could really find in the Libarary.


JA 5b: Arrandale T (1981) Western Oil Boom, In Editorial research reports 1981 Washington CQ press. This was better than the book I checked out from the libarary. It had such things like the time line of the natural gas industry in America. I think it would be a good idea to incorporate that into my research paper and maybe use charts and graphs in certain areas and compare it to Western, CO.

JA 5c: I could not really find any articles on my topic, I did not have access to the Daily Sentinal. The Mesa Libarary might be a better place to look. Which I will look more into as I get further into my research.