Compressed Natural Gas is a gasoline alternative for motor vehicles that is considered more environmentally viable as it produces low hydrocarbon emissions and vapours that are not ozone producing. It consists mainly of methane and is produced in conjunction with crude oil. This form of natural gas has become popular in the United States with more than twelve million vehicles running on natural gas.

Natural gas has proven to be a useful energy source since the nineteenth century, where cities used natural gas to light street lamps and building. The use of gas lighting fell out of with the advent of the light bulb, sending it to new avenues like heating and the production of electricity. The consumption of natural gas has exploded throughout the twentieth century and continues to grow in the twenty-first with the United States consuming nearly 24 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in 2011 and 26 trillion in 2012. While Natural gas has proven to be a useful resource, it is still finite, and demand will eventually outstrip the supply.

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Other Sources

“What is CNG?” CNG Now. http://www.cngnow.com/what-is-cng/Pages/default.aspx. Accessed July 26, 2016.

Union of Concerned Scientists. “Uses of Natural Gas.” Union of Concerned Scientists. http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/our-energy-choices/coal-and-other-fossil-fuels/uses-of-natural-gas.html#.V5ecs1UrLIU. Accessed July 26, 2016.