Natural Gas Facts
The world's largest proven gas reserves are located in Russia.
The main products released when natural gas is burned are carbon dioxide and water vapor.
Natural gas supplies about 23 percent of all energy used in the United States.
Natural gas heats 57 percent of U.S. households.
Federal lands contain about 60 percent of the nation's estimated undiscovered natural gas.
There is enough technically recoverable natural gas in the Rockies alone to power more than 50 million homes for 60 years.
Natural Gas Facts
Understanding Natural Gas
It's important to understand what natural gas is and what it is not, the historical context of energy around the world, and where we will get our natural gas in the future. You will find the most current energy facts on this website.
Natural Gas 101
Natural gas is often informally referred to as simply gas, especially when compared to other energy sources such as electricity. Before natural gas can be used as a fuel, it must undergo extensive processing to remove almost all materials other than methane.
When natural gas was first discovered in the United States, oil companies would set the gas on fire and let it burn because it wasn't economically feasable to store and sell the gas becasue there wasn't any demand.
As with oil, finding gas is the job principally of geologists and many of the same techniques are used, especially seismic studies. In fact, the discovery of gas is often a byproduct of the search for oil.
Most natural gas is processed very little to render it useable. Sometimes components called natural gas liquids, such as propane, are extracted from the gas before it is transported or delivered to the consumer.
Natural Gas 201
As a fuel, natural gas is convenient and efficient. It is used primarily for heat, in industrial, commercial and residential settings. In many homes the house and water are heated by gas, the food is cooked with it and clothes dried. Gas is also used to produce electricity, in some cases using gas fired turbines that are similar to jet engines, in others to fire steam boilers. Small gas-fired generators, called micro turbines, have recently been introduced. Gas is often used to heat industrial and commercial boilers and pressure vessels.
Compressed natural gas (methane) is a cleaner alternative to other automobile fuels such as gasoline (petrol) and diesel.
The major difficulty in the use of natural gas is transportation and storage because of its low density. Natural gas pipelines are economical, but are impractical across oceans. Many existing pipelines in North America are close to reaching their capacity, prompting some politicians representing colder areas to speak publicly of potential shortages.