What is Natural Gas?

Natural gas is more complex than you might think.  It’s actually primarily composed of a mixture of four naturally occurring gasses that have different molecular structures.  These gasses are used for an amazing variety of purposes in our modern lives.

How large is our supply?
Domestic gas production has grown 20% in just the past few years and we are now the world’s largest producer. It’s estimated that we have a 100 year supply of natural gas.

How is it used?
Transportation: There are more than 120,000 natural gas vehicles on American roads.  That number is expected to grow.  Natural gas has become an increasingly popular fuel for bus and truck fleets.

Manufacturing: Natural gas is used to generate process steam for industrial applications like the production of steel and paper.  It is also used as a feedstock for petrochemicals – the building blocks of plastics, fertilizers, synthetic fibers, cosmetics, and even medicines.  96% of the manufactured goods we use everyday contain products that were made possible with natural gas. Our abundance of natural gas is expected to generate 1 million new American manufacturing jobs by 2025.

Electricity generation: 25% of the nation’s electricity is generated by natural gas.  The Energy Information Administrations expects that 46% of the new generating capacity added to the grid by 2036 will come form natural gas.

Heating: More than 50% of American homes use natural gas to efficiently provide heat, hot water, and fuel for cooking.