Natural Gas Outlook

The Future of Natural Gas

While simply replacing coal with natural gas in the electricity sector would not
be an effective long-term climate strategy, natural gas does offer some important
advantages in the near- to medium-term.

Low natural gas prices and recent increases in the cost of generating electricity
from coal have resulted in a significant shift from coal to natural gas over the past few
years. With sufficient regulatory oversight, burning natural gas instead of coal could
help reduce air pollution, providing immediate public health and environmental
benefits. And because natural gas generators can be ramped up and down quickly,
they could support the integration of wind and solar, provide increased flexibility to the
electricity system, and continue to be used to meet peak demand.

Natural gas can also play an important role in meeting peak electricity demand
and fueling cogeneration plants that generate both heat and powerwhich are up to
twice as efficient as plants that only generate electricity highly efficient technologies
that provide both heat and power in the commercial and industrial sectors.

However, natural gas is by no means a panacea for the environmental problems

caused by our energy use. There is broad agreement among climate scientists that
carbon reductions of at least 80 percent by 2050 will be needed to avert the worst effects
of climate change, so simply switching to natural gas from coal and oil will not
ultimately bring about the necessary reductions. In addition, the development of our
newly discovered shale gas resource will disturb areas previously untouched by oil and
gas exploration and raise serious water management and quality challenges.

In addition, continued increases in natural gas demand for electricity and other
uses could result in shortages and significant price increases in the future, similar to
what the United States experienced in the early 2000s (after the last major natural gas
power plant construction boom). And with no long-term national policy support, cheap
natural gas could crowd renewable energy out of the power market in the near-term. By
diversifying the electricity mix, renewables and efficiency can provide an important
hedge against future natural gas price increases.

Thus, while natural gas has a role to play in our future electric mix, a natural gas-
centered energy pathway would also carry significant economic, environmental, and
public health risks. Instead, a diversified electricity system with amplified roles for
renewable energy and energy efficiency and a modest role for natural gas would
both limit the threat of climate change and mitigate the risks of an overdependence on
natural gas.

Origin and Uses of Natural Gas

Like oil, natural gas is a product of decomposed organic matter, typically from
ancient marine microorganisms, deposited over the past 550 million years.

This organic material mixed with mud, silt, and sand on the sea floor, gradually
becoming buried over time. Sealed off in an oxygen-free environment and exposed to
increasing amounts of heat and pressure, the organic matter underwent a thermal
breakdown process that converted it into hydrocarbons.

The lightest of these hydrocarbons exist in the gaseous state under normal
conditions and are known collectively as natural gas. In its pure form, natural gas is a
colorless, odorless gas composed primarily of methane. Methane, the simplest and
lightest hydrocarbon, is a highly flammable compound consisting of one carbon atom
surrounded by four hydrogen atoms (chemical formula: CH4).

Natural gas is used as a fuel to produce steel, glass, paper, clothing, brick, and
electricity. Natural gas is also used as a raw material for many products, including
paints, fertilizer, plastics, antifreeze, dyes, photographic film, medicines, and
explosives.
 For hundreds of years, natural gas has been known as a very useful substance.
The Chinese discovered a very long time ago that the energy in natural gas could be
harnessed, and used to heat water. In the early days of the natural gas industry, the gas
was mainly used to light streetlamps, and the occasional house. However, with much
improved distribution channels and technological advancements, natural gas is being
used in ways never thought possible.

There are so many different applications for this fossil fuel that it is hard to
provide an exhaustive list of everything it is used for. And no doubt, new uses are being
discovered all the time.

Natural gas is a major fuel used to heat buildings. About half of the homes in the
United States use natural gas as their main heating fuel. Natural gas is also used in
homes and businesses for cooking, for heating water, for drying clothes, and for
outdoor lighting.

According to the Energy Information Administration, energy from natural gas

accounts for 24 percent of total energy consumed in the United States, making it a vital
component of the nations energy supply.

Natural gas is used across all sectors, in varying amounts. The graph below gives
an idea of the proportion of natural gas use per sector. The industrial sector accounts for
the greatest proportion of natural gas use in the United States, with the residential
sector consuming the second greatest quantity of natural gas.

Sources:

http://naturalgas.org/overview/uses/

http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/our-energy-choices/coal-and-other-fossil-
fuels/uses-of-natural-gas.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gas