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Does building a base on the Moon increase the total mass throughput humanity can deliver to elsewhere in the solar system — and at cosmic scales (Tt/yr), what constraints bind first on each side?

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eia-natural-gas-2025

U.S. Natural Gas Consumption by End Use (EIA Natural Gas Navigator)

EIA 2025 report cited by: q1-earth-industrial-ceiling
https://www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/ng_cons_sum_dcu_nus_a.htm

Source review

Source Review: EIA Natural Gas Navigator (2025 annual consumption)

Summary

Verdict Count
Consistent 1
Different conclusion 0
Novel supporting 0
Merits investigation 0
Not relevant 0

Claim 1: U.S. annual natural gas consumption 2025

Quote (from extract.md): "33.52 trillion cubic feet (Tcf/yr) or 33,522,688 million cubic feet" Cited in q1 calc as: assumption #7 (US NG denominator) and supports claim q1.c4. Verdict: Consistent Why: This is the primary government data series. Our derived figures (LCH4 saturates US NG at ~545,000 launches/yr) reduce mechanically from this denominator divided by per-launch consumption (1,228 t LCH4 / 50,000 scf-per-t-methane). No transformation introduced. The Mobius 2024 secondary figure (89.1 Bcf/d for 2023 = 32.5 Tcf/yr) is consistent at the previous year's data, confirming continuity.

Extract

Abstract

The U.S. Energy Information Administration publishes annual natural gas consumption data through the Natural Gas Navigator. Most-recent annual total: 33.52 trillion cubic feet (33,522,688 million cubic feet) in calendar year 2025, released May 29, 2026. The figure represents Total Consumption — lease and plant fuel, pipeline and distribution use, and end-use delivery across residential, commercial, industrial, vehicle fuel, and electric power sectors. Production data is reported separately by EIA.

Key claims

  • us-ng-consumption-2025: "33.52 trillion cubic feet (Tcf/yr) or 33,522,688 million cubic feet" total U.S. annual natural gas consumption in 2025.
  • us-ng-consumption-daily-equivalent: 33.52 Tcf/yr ÷ 365 ≈ 91.8 Bcf/day average (cross-reference: the 2023 EIA figure of 89.1 Bcf/d cited by Mobius is consistent with mid-30s Tcf/yr).
  • data-released: "5/29/2026" — most recent EIA Natural Gas Navigator update.

Reviewer notes

Primary government data source, tier S. Used to compute the fraction of US natural gas that Starship propellant demand would consume at various cadences. At 4,600 t per launch × 1,228 t LCH4 (Block 1) and a 25 mol% methane content in natural gas at standard conditions (note: pipeline-grade NG is typically 95%+ methane; conversion is roughly 47 m³/t at standard conditions), the per-launch natural-gas-equivalent is on the order of 60-65 million scf, matching Mobius's 62.24 mmscf figure within rounding. EIA data anchors the denominator of the "X% of US natural gas" calculation in q1's calc pass.