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Indicator Gauge Icon Legend

Legend Colors

Red is bad, green is good, blue is not statistically different/neutral.

Compared to Distribution

an indicator guage with the arrow in the green the value is in the best half of communities.

an indicator guage with the arrow in the yellow the value is in the 2nd worst quarter of communities.

an indicator guage with the arrow in the red the value is in the worst quarter of communities.

Compared to Target

green circle with white tick inside it meets target; red circle with white cross inside it does not meet target.

Compared to a Single Value

green diamond with downward arrow inside it lower than the comparison value; red diamond with downward arrow inside it higher than the comparison value; blue diamond with downward arrow inside it not statistically different from comparison value.

Trend

green square outline with upward trending arrow inside it green square outline with downward trending arrow inside it non-significant change over time; green square with upward trending arrow inside it green square with downward trending arrow inside it significant change over time; blue square with equals sign no change over time.

Compared to Prior Value

green triangle with upward trending arrow inside it higher than the previous measurement period; green triangle with downward trending arrow inside it lower than the previous measurement period; blue equals sign no statistically different change  from previous measurement period.

green chart bars Significantly better than the overall value

red chart bars Significantly worse than the overall value

light blue chart bars No significant difference with the overall value

gray chart bars No data on significance available

More information about the gauges and icons

Residential Natural Gas Use

Measurement Period: 2022
This indicator shows the residential natural gas usage measured in therms per capita for the region.

Why is this important?

Slightly more than half of the homes in the U.S. use natural gas as their main heating fuel. Natural gas is a relatively clean fossil fuel. Compared to oil and coal, the combustion of natural gas releases less sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, and virtually no ash or particulate matter. Natural gas combustion does produce carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Consequently, the combustion of natural gas does contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and to changes in the earth's carbon cycle and climate.

Natural gas also affects the environment when it is produced, stored and transported. Because natural gas is made up mostly of methane (another greenhouse gas), small amounts of methane can sometimes leak into the atmosphere from wells, storage tanks and pipelines.

Climate change threatens health through more extreme weather events, increased air pollution, limitations on food production, increased water-borne and food-borne illnesses, and increased infectious disease vectors. For the major fossil fuels, the amounts of carbon dioxide produced for each billion Btu (British thermal units) of heat energy extracted are: 208,000 pounds for coal, 164,000 pounds for petroleum products, and 117,000 pounds for natural gas. Because natural gas is non-renewable and has relatively better environmental performance as a fuel, it will be important to conserve natural gas for the future.
More...
116.1
therms
Source: The California Energy Commission
Measurement period: 2022
Maintained by: Conduent Healthy Communities Institute
Last update: March 2024
Filter(s) for this location: State: California

Graph Selections

Indicator Values
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Data Source

Filed under: Environmental Health / Energy & Sustainability, Physical Determinants of Health

Santa Cruz