For hundreds of years, natural gas has been known as a very useful substance. The Chinese first discovered its abilities when they learned its energy could be harnessed and used to heat water.
Residential Uses-
Natural gas is one of the cheapest forms of energy available to the residential consumer. The best known uses for natural gas around the home are heating and cooking.
Natural gas is one of the most popular fuels for residential heating. According to the AGA, 51 percent of heated homes in the U.S. used natural gas heating in 2000. In addition to heating, natural gas can also be used to cool houses through natural gas air conditioners.
Despite its many uses, natural gas will probably never be able to fuel certain appliances like refrigerators and TVs. However, natural gas can still be used to create energy for these appliances through a process called distributed generation. Distributed generation refers to using natural gas to generate electricity at the consumer's home.
Commercial Uses-
The main uses of natural gas in this sector include space heating, water heating, and cooling. For restaurants that require cooking facilities, natural gas is a popular choice to provide energy. About 42% of the commercial sector's energy needs is provided by natural gas.
Industrial Uses-
Insustry is the top consumer of natural gas, accounting for 43% of the energy's consumption. Natural gas trails only electricity in this sector.
Natural gas is consumed primarily in the pulp and paper, metals, chemicals, petroleum refining, stone, clay and glass, plastic, and food processing industries. These businesses account for over 84% of all industrial natural gas use.
Transporation Uses-
Surprisingly, natural gas has been used to fuel vehicles since the 1930s!
According to the Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition, there are currently 110,000 Natural Gas Vehicles (NGVs) on the road in the United States today, and more than 1.5 million NGVs worldwide. Natural gas vehicles as they exist today are best suited for large fleets of vehicles that drive many miles a day.
Natural gas vehicles, when designed to run on natural gas alone, are among the cleanest vehicles in the world. In fact, the Honda Civic GX, released in 1997, has the cleanest internal combustion engine ever commercially produced. This natural gas powered automobile emits so few pollutants that in some large cities the emissions from the car are cleaner than the air surrounding it!
Electrical Generation Using Natural Gas-
The Energy Information Administration expects natural gas fired electricity generation to increase dramatically over the next 20 years.
New technology has allowed natural gas to play an increasingly important role in the clean generation of electricity.
