Have you ever heard the expression, “Now you’re cooking with gas”? People say it when someone comes up with a clever idea, or finds a good way to get something done.

Interestingly, when it comes to natural gas as a fuel source, both of those sentiments apply. How? Using natural gas is both a clever idea and a good way to accomplish everything from heating our homes and cooking meals, to generating electricity.

A clean source of dependable energy

Not only is natural gas plentiful here in North America, it’s also cleaner burning. It has fewer impurities than other fossil fuels, is less chemically complex, and when burned produces far fewer GHG (greenhouse gases) than many other fossil fuels.

And, while there are other sources of clean energy out there — notably wind and solar — with natural gas, even on overcast days with no wind, you can always count on a source of clean energy when you need it (Great news in winter).

An efficient choice for a clean energy future

Whether you depend on home heating in winter, or air conditioning in summer, natural gas is an efficient way to keep comfortable. Amazingly, almost 90 per cent of the energy value of natural gas makes it to consumers. That means very little is energy is spent when extracting and transporting it, a factor that helps keep costs and emissions down when you need to crank it up.

When you weigh the benefits, it’s easy to see why natural gas currently meets about one quarter of North America’s energy needs. And if you guess that as our population grows that percentage is headed upward, you’d be right.