What is Natural Gas?
While you might use natural gas every day, chances are you aren’t particularly familiar with this useful but mysterious substance. What is it exactly that brings that lovely flame to your burner and the warm water to your shower?
Natural gas is a mixture of hydrocarbons formed from the fossil remains of ancient plants and animals. It is mostly composed of methane, but also includes the other hydrocarbons ethane and propane. The fuel that is piped to you may also contain other gases like nitrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and water vapor.
Natural gas is safe (non-toxic, non-carcinogenic), clean (non-corrosive, minimally polluting to soil and water) and reliable (supplied through underground pipes that rarely lose service during a storm). We get most of our natural gas from gas and oil wells, with smaller quantities in such forms as synthetic gas, landfill gas, and coal-derived gas.
While gas burns hotter and brighter than other fossil fuels like coal and oil, it spews none of the messy smoke and soot that these tend to release. As a result, natural gas is a very popular fuel choice. According to the American Gas Association, natural gas companies provide service to more than 70 million residential customers around the country, delivering gas to customers through a safe and efficient two-million-mile underground piping system.
About a quarter of the energy used in the U.S. comes from natural gas, one third of which powers residences and commercial enterprises. Another third is put to industrial uses, and the final third assists in production of electric power. Natural gas vehicles are on the rise.
Gas is a relatively clean way to power our lives. Gas burned in power plants does produce nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide, but in smaller quantities than the result of burning coal or oil. Methane, which is a greenhouse gas, is released into the air when natural gas is not totally burned, and can also be leaked during transportation or from faulty equipment. Compared to the greenhouse gas impact of burning dirtier fossil fuels, however, natural gas is an earth-friendly option.
Interesting factoid: Since methane is odorless and colorless, gas companies must add an odor to keep customers safe from leaks. A chemical called mercaptan is added to give the gas its distinctive rotten-egg-like smell.
With safe, reliable, sustainable energy increasingly in demand, natural gas is at the forefront of satisfying our energy needs.
Photo: Jasonwoodhead23 via Flickr
