Substitute natural gas

Substitute natural gas (SNG), or synthetic natural gas, is a fuel gas that can be produced from fossil fuels such as lignite coal, oil shale, or from biofuels (when it is named bio-SNG) or from renewable electrical energy.

The Great Plains Synfuels Plant injects approximately 4.1 million m/day of SNG from lignite coal into the United States national gas grid. The production process of SNG at the Great Plains plant involves gasification, gas cleaning, shift, and methanation. China is constructing nearly 30 nos massive SNG production plants from coal / lignite with aggregate annual capacity of 120 billion standard cubic meters of SNG. SNG in the form of LNG or CNG can be used in road, rail, air and marine transport vehicles as a substitute for costly diesel, petrol, etc. The carbon foot print of SNG derived from coal is comparable to petroleum products. Bio-SNG has a much smaller carbon foot print when compared to petroleum products. LPG can also be produced by synthesising SNG with partial reverse hydrogenation at high pressure and low temperature. LPG is more easily transportable than SNG, more suitable as fuel in two wheeler or smaller HP vehicles /engines and also fetches higher price in international market due to short supply.