Gas

A few words about the natural gas

A natural resource

Natural gas is a fossil fuel formed when layers of buried plants and animals are exposed to intense heat and pressure over thousands of years. The energy that the plants and animals originally obtained from the sun is stored in the form of carbon in natural gas.

A growing consumption

Natural gas demand for residential energy is expected to increase 6 percent between 2009 and 2035. Residential use of natural gas is expected to remain flat during that period. Residential natural gas consumption accounts for 21 percent of all consumption.

Probably the most important long term driver of natural gas demand in the residential sector is future residential heating applications. In the US, between 1991 and 1999, 66 percent of new homes, and 57 percent of multifamily buildings are using natural gas heating. In 2010, 54 percent of new single family homes constructed used natural gas for the US while in Canada this was 42%.

While these new homes being built are generally increasing in size, the increasing efficiency of natural gas furnaces used to heat them compensates for the increased square footage to be heated. In general, however, the increase in the number of new homes using natural gas for heat over the next 20 years is expected to provide a strong driver for residential natural gas demand.

Natural gas is the cleanest of all the fossil fuels since it contributes the least to the phenomena of smog, acid rain, and global warming.