Quick Facts About Natural Gas

Natural gas is the cleanest and most efficient fossil fuel:

Natural gas is today's environmental energy choice. Increased use of natural gas can help address several environmental concerns simultaneously, including smog, acid rain and greenhouse gas emissions.

Natural gas is inherently efficient - about 90 percent of the gas produced is delivered to the customer as usable energy. In contrast, less than 30 percent of the energy converted to coal-fired electricity reaches the customer.

Natural gas utilities are important to the nation and its economy:

Gas utilities employ more than 140,000 people in all 50 states, with an annual payroll of $7.5 billion.

Natural gas meets about one-fourth of the United States' total energy needs. Natural gas is suitable for a wide range of uses:

• HOMES:  Natural gas is the nation's most popular home heating fuel - heating more homes than all other fuels combined. As of 2005, 52 percent of U.S. households are heated with natural gas, while 31 percent have electric heat, 9 percent have fuel oil and 6 percent heat with oil. In all, 21 percent of the natural gas used in the U.S. is consumed in homes (for heating, water-heating, cooking, clothes drying, fireplaces, etc.)
• COMMERCIAL FACILITIES:  About 13 percent of the natural gas consumed in the U.S. is used by commercial facilities such as office buildings, schools, restaurants, supermarkets and health care facilities, as of 2005.
• INDUSTRIES:  Manufacturing plants and other industrial customers use more natural gas than any other sector (33 percent of all U.S. natural gas consumption). Industries use natural gas in manufacturing, processing and storing a wide range of products, including fertilizer, medicine, plastics, glass, textiles, steel aluminum and food.
• ELECTRIC POWER GENERATION:  More than half of the electricity generated in the U.S. is made from coal, but an increasing amount is generated with natural gas. Natural gas is the dominant choice for newly built power plants, both because it helps plants meet strict air-quality requirements, but also because building natural gas power plants costs less than coal or nuclear plants and can be permitted and constructed more quickly.

Does natural gas smell?

Natural gas is naturally odorless. An odorant, which smells like rotten eggs, is added for quick leak detection on interstate transmission pipelines and in local distribution pipelines in accordance with DOT safety regulations.

Is natural gas toxic or poisonous?

No. Natural gas is neither toxic nor poisonous.