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ONTARIO TODAY SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1961 J tio! ENERGY TO BURN NATURAL GA By JAMES MONTAGNES NTARIO last year used six times as much natural gas for residential, industrial and commercial purposes as in 1939. Last year 110 billion cubic feet of natural gas were used in the province. This year it is expected that. 135 billion cubic feet will be used for heating, cook- ing, lighting, and dozens of industrial processes. In enother 20 years the Ontario Depart- ment of Energy Resources estimates that the province will need about 500 billion cubic feet of natural gas a year, the equivalent in energy of 10 million tons of coal. This will represent more than 25 per cent of the total energy used in the province, whereas natural gas accounted for only one per cent of the energy in 1950. "Because of its relatively low cost and its availability as a fuel, natural gas has opened vast new industrial horizons for dozens of com- munities, particularly throughout northern Ontario," the department's officials point out. "Previous to the coming of the Trans-Canada "Pipe Line, bringing natural gas to northern Ontario, fuel costs in many cases were a limit- ing factor on the expansion of industries and population in the north. In southern Ontario natural gas also has brought wide new indus- trial development." At present Ontario gas fields in south- western areas around Chatham, produce about 17 billion cubic feet of natural gas annually. This met only about 19 per cent of needs last year. Production of natural gas in Ontario is in- creasing the past few years, but far greater amounts of the fuel are needed in the province. The percentage of locally produced natural gas will diminish as the total requirements continue to increase. More and more western natural gas will be brought in. NTARIO is now the second largest natural gas consumer in Canada, following Alberta, where costs are about a third of what they are in Ontario in view "of the 2,700 mile journey east for the invisible and odourless fuel. Ontario last year accounted for about a third of all the natural gas used in Canada. Ontario's insatiable hunger for more and more energy to drive the wheels of industry, to heat and supply cooking fuel for its growing number of homes, has upped the amounts of other fuels as well. Only coal has suffered a drop, but this is expected to be made up in the next decade as new coal-fired electric power stations at Toronto and the Lakehead are completed. Strong point in favour of natural gas even where coal or other fuels are cheaper, is that it is very easily controlled, spokesman for the gas industry state. Natural gas is felt to be the best fuel for any process where precise tempera- ture control over a long period is essential. In northern Ontario industry, in paper mills and some mines, it has displaced large quantities of United States coal. ; To prepare for emergencies when there might be temporary breaks in the Trans-Canada Ontario Minister of Energy Resources, Robert Macaulay. Sulphur test taken at gas discovery well. Pipe Line, large storage space in southwestern Ontario is being used. This storage space is in abandoned and used-up gas wells. By storing natural gas there, it will be possible to feed from these storage supplies to areas temporarily needing more gas than is coming by pipe line, or to ensure an area receiving uninterrupted service in case of a pipe line break. HERE is continuing demand by communities throughout the province and pipe line build- ing has not yet stopped. Later this year, for in- stance, a transmission pipe line is being built in eastern Ontario to the towns of Hawkesbury, Pembroke and Renfrew. Ths will give these communities their first contact with natural gas.