Full Title: Natural Gas in the Industrial Sector
Author(s): Center for Climate and Energy Solutions
Publisher(s): Center for Climate and Energy Solutions
Publication Date: May 1, 2012
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
The industrial sector is very diverse and includes industries such as chemicals, metals, minerals, oil refining, paper, and food. Natural gas uses among these industries vary significantly. It is used for heating and cooling, process heating for glass melting, food processing, metals preheating, and drying; on-site electricity generation (fueling boilers and turbines); and it is used as a feedstock to make chemical products, fertilizers, plastics, and other materials. The breakdown of natural gas use within the sector is shown in Figure 1. In total the U.S. industrial sector used natural gas for 30.4 percent of its direct energy use (for combustion and non- combustion) in 2010. This usage amounted to 8.14 quadrillion Btus of natural gas in 2010 (27 percent of natural gas consumed in the United States), which emitted 408 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). More than 82 percent of this natural gas use was for manufacturing (excluding refining and mining).