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Show Introduction The Gas Research Institute is the research arm of the natural gas industry in the United States. GRI conducts cooperative research, development and deployment of technologies and infonnation to measurably benefit gas consumers and the gas industry. Programs are conducted on a wide range of topics, from exploration and drilling of natural gas to its use in homes and industry. A significant portion, almost 50%, of GRI's annual budget of approximately 175 million US$ (Figure 1) is devoted to enhancing the end use of natural gas, and of that, over one fifth is GRI RD&D Program Transportation and Safety $23.9 End-use Applications $74.6 18es·18N GRJ Pf.n $ Millions Figure 1 Production and Supply $46.2 Basic Research $18.4 Environment and Safety $10.1 applied to developing industrial technologies that enable the use of gas as the fuel of choice. In 1991, nearly 45% of the more than 20 quadrillion cubic feet of gas used in the United States went to process heating and steam generation in industry (Figure 2). Because industrial gas use is important to the US gas industry, as well as to the general economy, a great deal of concern was generated on the passing of the Amendments to the Clean Air Act in 1990. Much of this concern was about the impact of the more stringent emissions regulations on the use of gas in industry. The Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) are made up of four titles that define undesirable emissions and call for their reduction. Of immediate concern to industry 2 |