Major advantages of using natural gas.

Top advantages of natural gas

Because of several advantages of natural gas over other forms fossil fuels like coal and oil, natural gas has become the most widely used energy resource in the world for electricity generation and heating and cooking purposes. According to EIA (Energy Information Administration), in 2019, utility-scale electricity generation in U.S from natural gas-fired power plants was about 37% while generation from coal-fired plants was about 24%.

Here in this post I am going to discuss about the major advantages of using natural gas over other fossil fuels which have made this energy source an important energy commodity in the world. But before going into the benefits of natural gas let’s first look into what is natural gas, how it is formed and what are its uses.

What is natural gas?

Natural gas is a nonrenewable fossil fuel used as a source of energy for heating, cooking, and electricity generation. It is a naturally occurring mixture of gases rich in hydrocarbon. The gas mixture primarily consists of methane and includes varying amounts of nitrogen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide or helium.

Why is natural gas scented?

Natural gas, in its original state, is both colorless and odorless—making it nearly impossible to detect if it leaks. While this might sound handy for hide-and-seek, it’s not so great for home safety. To help quickly identify leaks and prevent dangerous situations, utility companies add a distinct, sulfur-like odor (often compared to rotten eggs) to natural gas before it is delivered to consumers. This process is called “odorization,” and the added substance is typically mercaptan, a harmless but pungent compound. Thanks to this precaution, even a small gas leak can be noticed by its unmistakable smell, making it much safer for everyday use.

How is natural gas formed?

Natural gas is formed from the remains of tiny sea animals and plants that died millions of years ago. After these sea animals and plants died, they remained buried at the bottom of the ocean by layers of sedimentary rock which became thousands of feet thick over the years. The energy rich remains of plants (the energy that the plants originally obtained from the sun) and animals are subjected to huge pressure by these layers of sedimentary rock. Most scientists believe that this pressure, combined with the heat of the Earth, changed the above buried organic materials into petroleum and natural gas. Eventually, concentrations of natural gas became trapped in the rock layers, much like sponge traps water.

Raw natural gas is nothing but a mixture of different gases. The main ingredient of natural gas is methane, a natural compound that is formed whenever plant and animal matter decays.

Another source of natural gas is coal bed methane, which is found in the seams of coal.

How is natural gas processed before use?

Before natural gas can make its way to your kitchen stove or heat your home, it must undergo several important processing steps. Raw natural gas, as found underground, is not yet ready for everyday use.

First, once extracted, it is often found mixed with crude oil and a variety of other components. To get it ready, the gas goes through a process where various by-products, such as propane, ethane, and butane, are separated and removed. These by-products are not wasted—they’re valuable themselves and find use in other industrial applications.

Once the by-products are extracted, natural gas is almost in its final usable form. However, there’s a crucial final step. Pure natural gas is both colorless and odorless, making it difficult to detect if there’s a leak. For safety reasons, a distinctive odor—commonly the smell of sulfur or ‘rotten eggs’—is carefully added. This helps homeowners and businesses quickly detect any potential gas leaks.

After these processing steps, natural gas is ready to be distributed and used reliably in homes, commercial spaces, and industries.

By-products Extracted During Natural Gas Processing

Before natural gas can be delivered for residential or commercial use, it undergoes several processing steps to remove impurities and separate out valuable by-products. Some of the key by-products separated during this refining process include:

• Propane
• Ethane
• Butane

These by-products are not wasted—they’re used in various industries. For instance, propane is commonly used for heating and cooking, while ethane serves as a crucial raw material in the petrochemical industry. Butane finds its application in lighters and as a fuel additive.

In addition to these, natural gas processing may also yield other gases like pentane and natural gas liquids (NGLs), each having their own commercial uses. This extraction process enhances the utility of natural gas, making it a key player not just in energy, but also in the production of essential chemicals and fuels.

Uses of natural gas

Primary uses of natural gas are cooking, heating, generating electricity and industrial use.

The industrial sector uses natural gas as a fuel for process heating and as a feed-stock to produce chemicals, fertilizers, and hydrogen.

The residential sector mainly uses natural gas for heating and cooking purposes. About 48 percent of all U.S. homes use natural gas as a source of fuel for heating and cooking purposes.

The uses of natural gas by the commercial sector are similar to its uses in residential sector such as space heating, water heating, air conditioning, etc. However, some consumers in the commercial sector also use this gas as a fuel to produce both heat and electricity simultaneously, a technology called ‘combined heat and power’.

The transport sector uses natural gas as a vehicle fuel in the form of compressed and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Now, more than 150,000 vehicles on US roads and more than 5 million worldwide are powered by natural gas. Let’s now look into the major advantages of natural gas over other fossil fuels.

It is true that there are both advantages and disadvantages of natural gas. Nevertheless, despite all the disadvantages of natural gas, many notable advantages of using natural gas over other fossil fuels have made this energy resource most valuable and a great asset to the global economy.

6 major advantages of natural gas

1. Environmental friendly

Natural gas is far more environmental friendly than other forms of fossil fuels like coal and oil. During the process of burning, natural gas emits lower levels of harmful emissions like carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxides. Natural gas burns much cleaner without keeping any left over residue or waste to get rid of. It also produces much less greenhouse gases than other fossil fuels. According to the International Gas Union, natural gas emits up to 50% less carbon dioxide than coal and 20 to 30% less than oil. It also emits less toxic chemicals like nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere and keep the air much cleaner.

In short, one of the main benefits of natural gas among other fossil fuels is its clean burning property. In fact, this clean burning property of natural gas is one of the reasons for its increasing use in the United States for electricity generation and as a transport fuel for vehicles.

2. Reliable source of energy

One of the major advantages of using natural gas is that it is a more dependable energy source as compared to other fossil fuels. Natural gas is delivered through underground pipelines that go directly to the residential buildings and industry, which ensures an absolute reliable delivery service.

During severe weather conditions it is not always possible to depend solely on electricity for running your important home appliances. But you can always use natural gas as an energy source any time regardless of the weather conditions. Its delivery via underground pipelines means that storms can’t disrupt the supply.

3. Easier to transport and store

Natural gas can be easily stored and transported as compared to other fossil fuels. Transporting natural gas through big pipelines and massive tankers over land and sea is relatively easy in the form Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).  The gas is cooled until it liquefies and transformed to LNG. The cooling process reduces the volume of the gas 600 times, making it easier and safer to store and transport in its liquid state. Once LNG reaches its destination, it is turned back into gas and delivered through underground pipelines direct to the homes and industries.

However, despite these advantages, there is an important consideration when it comes to storage. Natural gas, even after being compressed or liquefied, has a much larger volume compared to other fuels like petrol. In fact, its volume is about four times as large. This means that storing natural gas can be more expensive, since it requires significantly more space. While technology like LNG makes storage and transport much more feasible, the cost and infrastructure needed for large-scale storage should not be overlooked.

Overall, the benefits of easy transport and conversion to LNG help natural gas stand out among fossil fuels, but the relatively high storage requirements are a factor to keep in mind.

4. Efficient storage and transportation compared to renewables

One clear edge that natural gas has over most renewable energy sources is its efficiency in both storage and transport. Natural gas, especially when converted into LNG, can be stored in large quantities for extended periods and shipped across continents in specially designed tankers. Major players like Qatar, Australia, and the United States regularly export LNG to countries around the world, ensuring steady supply even when local production cannot meet demand.

In contrast, storing renewable energy—like wind or solar power—at a large scale still poses significant challenges. Technologies such as batteries or pumped hydro storage can help, but these solutions are expensive and often limited in capacity. Additionally, transmitting electricity from renewables over long distances can lead to notable energy losses along the transmission network, making it less efficient compared to the direct, loss-minimized pipeline systems used for natural gas.

This reliable storage and relatively loss-free transport system makes natural gas a practical choice for nations seeking to balance energy needs and maintain a steady supply, regardless of local generation conditions or renewable fluctuations.

5. Abundant resource

Natural gas is relatively more abundant than other fossil fuels like coal and oil and available almost worldwide. This resource is so widely available now in LNG form that it helps to deal with short-term electricity supply disruptions in many countries.

According to a statistics, global natural gas production hit a record of more than 3.7 billion cubic meters in the year 2017. Many more natural gas producing sites are also waiting to be discovered in the coming years. There are over a trillion barrels of natural gas reserves in the US alone that have not been harvested yet. According to International Energy Agency (IEA) if consumption of natural gas remained at present levels, the recoverable natural gas would last more than 200 years.

6. Cheaper than other fossil fuels

One of the major advantages of natural gas is that it is relatively cheaper than other sources of energy. It provides a long-term price advantage over fossil fuels. For carrying out same tasks, natural gas is half as expensive as other fossil fuels like coal or oil. On top of this, the natural gas appliances often have much lower operating costs than the appliances that use other fossil fuels. In fact, use of natural gas instead of non-gas sources, could potentially save a significant amount on your utility bills on a long term basis.

However, despite all the above benefits of natural gas, the three main potential disadvantages of natural gas are mentioned below:,

1. Like all other fossil fuels, natural gas is also not a renewable energy source; it is formed from the decomposed remains of plants and animals that have been buried deep beneath the Earth’s surface for millions of years. Because this process takes such a vast amount of time, once we use up the natural gas available to us, we cannot simply produce more. In other words, natural gas supplies are finite—when they’re gone, they’re gone. Recent estimates, such as those from Worldometers, suggest that if we keep consuming natural gas at the current rate, global reserves could be exhausted in about 52 years.

2. Natural gas, which is a combustible material, is required to be handled carefully;

3. While natural gas burns much cleaner than other fossil fuels, it also contributes to greenhouse gases, particularly methane, the main component of natural gas;

Safety Concerns: Handle with Care

Natural gas is a highly combustible substance, and improper handling can lead to dangerous situations, including explosions. It is crucial that natural gas installations and appliances are fitted and maintained by qualified professionals. Skimping on installation or inspection costs is never worth the risk. For added safety, using a gas leak detector or meter is highly recommended, as it can provide an early warning of leaks and help prevent accidents.

Environmental Impact: Still a Pollutant

While natural gas is often touted as a “cleaner” alternative compared to coal or oil, it is not free from environmental impact. Burning natural gas produces fewer pollutants and less carbon dioxide than other fossil fuels, but it still emits greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. Additionally, if natural gas is burned under suboptimal conditions, or if there are leaks during extraction or transportation, its environmental footprint can increase—methane, in particular, is a potent greenhouse gas.

When Advantages Become Disadvantages (and Vice Versa)

It’s important to recognize that the very features that make natural gas so desirable can also present challenges, depending on the situation. For instance, its high flammability is what makes it such an efficient energy source for heating and cooking—allowing us to harness a lot of energy in a compact form. However, this same property also means that any leaks must be taken very seriously, as escaping gas can increase the risk of fire or, in rare circumstances, explosions if it accumulates in a confined space.

Convenient, reliable delivery through underground pipelines is a key reason so many cities depend on natural gas. Yet, because the gas is largely odorless in its natural state, suppliers add mercaptan (the familiar “rotten egg” smell) to help people detect leaks. Without vigilant maintenance and detection technologies, the safety of this system depends on constant monitoring—making human oversight critical.

Similarly, the widespread availability and lower cost of natural gas can encourage higher consumption, which on a large scale still contributes to overall greenhouse gas emissions. Natural gas might burn cleaner than coal or oil, but methane (its primary component) is a potent greenhouse gas if released directly into the atmosphere. Thus, while natural gas offers environmental benefits compared to other fossil fuels, its advantages can become drawbacks if leaks are not managed or if it delays the transition to truly renewable energy sources.

All in all, the context in which natural gas is used—how it’s delivered, handled, and monitored—can turn its strengths into potential weaknesses. Responsible use and modern safety technologies are key to maximizing its benefits while minimizing the risks.

Does natural gas pose risks to soil or water contamination?

Unlike oil, which is commonly stored in large underground tanks that can sometimes leak and pollute soil or groundwater, natural gas is typically delivered through sealed underground pipelines straight to your home or business. Because it isn’t stored in tanks beneath the ground, the chances of soil or water contamination from storage are minimal. This transportation method significantly reduces the risk of accidental leaks that could harm the environment, making natural gas a comparatively safer choice when considering contamination concerns.

Frequently asked questions

Before I conclude let me also reply to some of the related questions often asked by the people.

Is natural gas the energy of the future?

Under current de-carbonization policies, natural gas is going to play an important role in America’s energy use. USA homes will continue to rely on gas for domestic use over the coming decades.

What’s a disadvantage of natural gas?

One of the biggest disadvantages of natural gas is that it emits carbon dioxide into our atmosphere which leads to climate change and also global warming.

Is natural gas a clean energy?

Natural gas is a relatively clean energy. In order to produce an equal amount of energy, burning natural gas results in fewer emissions of air pollutants and carbon dioxide than coal or other fossil fuels.

You might also like to read this related post: Is Natural Gas Renewable or Nonrenewable?

Conclusion

It would be evident from the descriptions of the advantages of natural gas detailed in the post that natural gas is relatively cheap, plentiful and burns much cleaner than coal and other fossil fuels.

It is true that despite several advantages of using natural gas, the benefits of natural gas are not enough to support and play a long-term role in our carbon reduction goals or cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Nevertheless, natural gas is definitely going to play a significant near-term role to achieve a clean-energy environment by reducing our reliance on coal based electricity and helping transition to renewable energy sources such as solar and wind.