| The taming of gas in its significance for humans is quite comparable to the taming of fire. Gas, which illuminated the houses and streets of Europe in the 19th century, and came to the kitchens of high-rise buildings in the 20th century, can rightfully be considered one of the things that radically changed the quality of people’s lives. And although today gas stoves are being replaced by electric ones, this does not mean that the time of gas is passing. On the contrary, scientists and engineers say that soon “gas outlets” similar to electric ones will appear in European homes, and a variety of household appliances will run on gas. Three thousand years later, which is precisely the history of the practical use of gas, blue fuel continues to successfully win its place in the fight against other energy sources.
The use of gas was first mentioned in Chinese chronicles dating back to approximately 900 BC. In 400 BC. gas was already lighting up the streets of Beijing. In ancient China, the first gas pipelines from bamboo began to be built. In 211 BC. near the modern city of Chongqing, a well 150 meters deep was drilled. The gas coming from it was used to evaporate the salt.
In Europe, the fact that dry distillation of coal and wood produces flammable gas has been known since the 17th century. Self-taught chemist John Clayton described this process back in 1691. As often happened in the history of technology, the author of the invention did not understand its practical significance and used it only as amusement for guests: “I took a bull’s bladder filled with gas and made a tiny hole in it with a thin needle. Then he squeezed the bubble with his hands and brought it to a burning candle - the gas coming out of the bubble ignited in the air.” This trick always made a very strong impression on the audience, because... no one, of course, could imagine that the bubble contained not just air, but flammable gas.
When Napoleonic armies marched victoriously across Europe, not foreseeing their inglorious end in the snows of Russia, the French engineer Philippe Le Bon made a discovery that conquered the world without firing a shot and forever - in 1799 he invented the gas lamp. A true son of his century, the century of enlightenment, Philippe Le Bon saw in his brainchild not only a technical novelty, but the possibility of “ordering the chaos of nature according to rational natural scientific principles.” And on the other side of the English Channel, the owners of English manufactories have long dreamed of curbing the “chaos of nature” and “turning night into day.” With the growth of industrial production, the light from traditional kerosene lamps and candles in workshops turned out to be insufficient. In 1802, the London steam engine factory Boulton & Watt first illuminated its workshops with gas lamps. Thanks to Lebon's light bulb, working hours no longer depended on the length of natural daylight.
Gas light came to houses and city streets much later. One of the main ideologists of the central gas supply to cities and residential buildings was the German Friedrich Albert Windsor who emigrated to England. In 1810, he even created a special company that began developing these projects. Against the background of gas lamps, the previous sources of light - candles or kerosene lamps - appeared only as a dull reddish flicker.
However, Le Bon's invention had many opponents. The newspaper Koelnische Zeitung, published in Cologne in 1819, warned against all kinds of street lighting. This is immoral, the newspaper wrote, from a theological point of view: the divine order, which provides for light and darkness, is not given to man to destroy. From a medical point of view, street lighting was considered downright life-threatening - possible gas leaks were considered extremely harmful. But the main argument against gas is documented in the following moving passage: “Because street lighting tempts people to go out at night, the danger of colds increases. A long duration of illumination tempts the weak - and above all drunkards and lovers - to new excesses. It is also unacceptable from the point of view of the police to illuminate the streets - the night light of gas lamps makes horses timid, and thieves and robbers, on the contrary, bold.”
The controversy did not subside until the middle of the 19th century. Opponents found new arguments. The German newspaper Stuttgarter Tageblatt wrote about the “suppression of the enjoyment of life due to the introduction of gas lighting,” and that “methods are being sought everywhere to avoid its harmful consequences.” “Gas light is just air burning without a wick - complete nonsense!” - the newspaper concluded. Nevertheless, ill-wishers could not stop progress. By the way, gas lamps appeared on the streets of St. Petersburg under Pushkin - in 1835.
After the gas generator was invented to produce gas from coal, the use of gas began to increase. By the middle of the 19th century, there were 35 gas distillation plants in Germany. Since 1855, the German engineer Robert Bunsen began to introduce a burner named after him to illuminate cities in Austria, Great Britain, Belgium, Russia, France, some large German principalities and other countries. These were the years of a decisive breakthrough in ensuring central gas supply in Europe. One evidence of this is the beginning of publication in Germany in 1858 of the “Journal of Gas Lighting”.
But even when gas lighting was gradually conquering the streets of Western European cities, people's dependence on natural light, in fact, almost nothing changed. Until the very end of the 19th century, it was used very limitedly, especially in the summer months, or not included at all. The city authorities believed that the light of the moon was quite enough. In order to streamline this issue, “lighting tables” were compiled. Such a document, which existed, for example, in Dortmund in 1874, prescribes the use of moonlight from January 1 to January 5. Which meant: the gas lighting had to be turned off. With the aging phases of the night light, the time for street lighting with gas had to increase accordingly - from three to six hours a day. When, from January 19 to 27, the phases of the moon began to increase again, the duration of artificial illumination was again gradually reduced to 2.5 hours, and in the following days - during the full moon - Dortmund residents again had enough moonlight. This table shows, among other things, how people's ideas about light and darkness have changed over time. After all, today, even with the clearest full moon, without the lights on, the streets will seem dark and dull to us.
A new era in the history of gas supply began when it became technically possible to build safe gas pipelines. August 27, 1859 is considered the birthday of modern gas pipeline transport in the world. On this day, American former railroad conductor Edwin Drake drilled a well about 25 meters deep in search of oil. This happened in the vicinity of the city of Titusville in Pennsylvania. Instead of the expected oil, natural gas burst out of the well. The enterprising Drake built a pipeline with a diameter of 5 cm and a length of about 9 km. The gas it carried into Titusville was used for lighting and cooking.
In the oil fields of pre-revolutionary Russia, the accompanying gas was mainly used “in flares” or for domestic needs. Small factories produced low-calorie lighting gas from coal. Natural gas was not produced and its deposits were unknown. In Europe, the gas supply network gradually developed, but it was mainly not about natural gas, but about coke oven gas obtained from coal processing.
The real era of gas came after the Second World War, when gas supply began to develop at a rapid pace and gas began to be widely used for energy production. In the Soviet Union, the gas industry arose with the construction of the first gas pipelines in 1946-1950.
European consumers received “large” natural gas in the 60s - from Holland and Great Britain, and from the beginning of the 70s - from the Soviet Union. The final argument in favor of natural gas was the oil crises of the late 60s and early 70s, when, having been burned by the oil boycott of Arab countries, Europeans began to seriously think about diversifying energy sources. Prepared by YURIY SHPAKOV and ALEXEY SLOBODIN
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