Conventional Sources of Electricity

Natural Gas

Natural gas is both cheap and the most environmentally used fossil fuel. These two factors have greatly increased the use of natural gas to generate electricity. Natural gas does produce air pollution, but not nearly as much as other fossil fuels: half of the CO₂ per unit of energy of coal, one-sixth of the NO_x, and almost no sulfur dioxide or particulate matter. About 10% of electricity currently comes from natural gas. Although natural gas reserves will last for many decades to come, they are finite and, with scarcity, their price will rise.