President Obama Pushes Increased Use of Natural Gas

Natural gas is a fossil fuel composed mostly of methane a simple molecule consisting of one carbon
atom attached to four hydrogen atoms. Other similar compounds are also in natural gas. Methane
can be formed almost anywhere organic matter decays. Methane often can be seen bubbling up in
swamps. Manure can produce methane that is captured and used on some farms. Most of it,
however, is trapped in various places beneath the earth typically where coal and crude oil are found.
Methane is sometimes the source of mine explosions in the coal industry.
Energy Use in the United States
In the U.S. almost 30% of the energy is used for transporting people and products, and well over half
that amount is used in personal vehicles. The fuel of choice has become gasoline and diesel fuel
similar to kerosene and both are distilled from crude oil.
Coal powered plants produce 45% of the electricity in the U.S. while natural gas produces 24%.
Nuclear plants produce about 20%. Nearly 18% of residential electricity is used for cooling, 15% for
lighting. Lighting and heating use about 9% each in homes. Nearly 60% of all homes in the U.S. are
heated with natural gas.
Natural gas can power light vehicles quite well and it burns cleaner. For example, carbon monoxide
emissions from compressed natural gas in light-weight vehicles are 90% less than gasoline. Carbon
dioxide is reduced by up to 50% and nitrogen oxide is decreased by as much as 60%.
There is no widespread delivery system for vehicles designed to use natural gas about 80 fueling

location in the U.S. Nor are there many vehicles in use in the U.S. that run on natural gas. Only
Honda is seriously marketing a car powered by natural gas. Its fuel mileage compares favorably to
high-mileage gasoline powered cars. Engines modified for using natural gas require less
maintenance and last longer than gasoline engines.
Increasing the Use of Natural Gas in the United States
The U.S. currently produces more natural gas than any other nation. With a 100 year supply,
increasing the use of natural gas can buy time for the development of renewable energy sources like
wind and solar energy. Investments in natural gas rather than projects like Keystone XL may well be
wiser as crude oil becomes increasingly more difficult to obtain and refine.

U.S. production of natural gas could increase by 5% a year

for the next decade. This will provide fuel for the
production of existing electrical power plants and for wind
and solar when they are unable to produce energy. More
electric power will be needed for the increasing numbers
of battery dependent personal vehicles.
Municipal areas are turning to compressed natural gas
CNG for buses and other service vehicles. The cost of
CNG is equivalent to $1.85 per gallon of gasoline. Waste
Management has a 1,000 truck fleet using natural gas, and UPS has an equal number of delivery
vehicles fueled by CNG. AT&T plans to switch from gasoline to natural gas for 8,000 vehicles.
The commercial use of natural gas will likely encourage the installation of fueling stations which can
be used by personal vehicles and expand development of more cars modified for CNG. This would
further decrease U.S. dependence on imported energy.
Obama Favors T. Boone Pickens Plan for Natural Gas
Oil man T. Boone Pickens spent $80 million pushing a plan to develop a fleet of 18-wheelers. He
believes that the U.S. can reduce its consumption of OPEC oil by half in less than a decade.
President Obama supports Pickens plan and is optimistic about substantially reducing oil imports.
Pickens has made his fortune on oil, but has recently begun investing in alternative forms of energy
citing Americas dependence on foreign oil as a danger. He owns nearly 700 wind turbines and is
looking for wind fields for placement. Boones influence could push the efforts to use more natural
gas forward.
Natural gas has been millions of years forming in the earth. The U.S. may have enough to last 100
years. Natural gas can be substituted for petroleum as an alternate energy source for many
purposes. As a fuel, it pollutes less and is generally cheaper than gasoline or other petroleum-based
fuels. Increased natural gas use is supported by President Obama and oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens.
Both believe that increased natural gas use can significantly reduce foreign oil imports.
Sources:

Natural Gas, eia.gov. (Accessed: January 23, 2012)

Uses of Natural Gas, naturalgas.org. (Accessed: January 23, 2012)