Natural gas- the liquefied petroleum gas or LPG 

Natural gas, again a fossil fuel, is a mixture of gases made up of ethane, methane, propane, butane, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen and hydrogen sulphide. Natural gas that is found underground is that is left of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago. Before natural gas can be used, almost all the gases have to be removed expect methane, a molecule of which has one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms.

 Some methane –rich gas is produced by the decomposition or rotting of organic materials like dead leaves and animals or even sewage in the absence of oxygen. Natural gas is used for heating, cooking and even to produce electricity. It is a clean fuel and produces more heat than an equal amount of coal.

 Every year, about 2405 billion cubic meters of it are used around the world. The United States alone a quarter of this although it produces about 22 percent. In India, natural gas has become popular over the past ten years. India produces about 87 million standard cubic meters per day.

 In India, around half of the liquefied petroleum gas or LPG used is extracted from nature. Most of this comes from offshore drills. Onshore oil fields are found in Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, with Tripura, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan producing small amounts. The Hazira –Bijapur –Jagdishpur pipeline carries most of Indian’s natural gas and passes through Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Utter Pradesh and Haryana. Gujarat and Assam use the natural gas produced in these states.

 Natural gas costs less than petrol or diesel. It also burns cleaner. However, it occupies almost four times the space than petrol or diesel that would produced the same amount of energy, so storage tanks are quite big in size.