The History of Natural Gas

Thousands of years ago, the ancient people of Persia, Greece and India discovered natural gas. They witnessed it seeping from the ground and realized, probably first by lightning, that it ignited very easily and would burn for very long lengths of time. Sometimes, these ancient civilizations would build religious beliefs and myths around these bright burning flames. They would even build temples and worship the fire itself.

The Chinese were the first to actually pipe the natural gas to a location where they could use it. They would use it to cook down sea water and extract the salt. They used bamboo pipes and transported the gas to where they could use it. This was revolutionary to them because they found a way to make sea water drinkable, providing fresh water to the masses rather quickly and easily.

By the 1800’s, people were using natural gas in London, England to create lighting in the cities and the first natural gas companies were born. They mostly used coal gas to light their homes and streets. For the first time in history, cities were lit up at night all over the world. Electricity would not be around until the early twentieth century.

Most natural gas is extracted from the ground by the use of pipelines. Natural gas is light enough to rise up through the gas well without needing to be pumped. Before it can be used, natural gas must be processed and the impurities must be removed. Gas high in sulfur and carbon dioxide can be highly corrosive. Extra processing is necessary to make it less dangerous to humans. Natural gas is separated and cleaned at the processing plant. Propane and butane are extracted, but natural gas is mostly methane.

Methane is produced when organic matter rots underground for thousands of years. The gas produced, commonly known as biogas, is actually a mixture of methane and phosphine. Bubbles of biogas can seep up through marshes and swamps briefly catching fire when exposed to oxygen. People used to believe that these little flashes of fire were actually demons or some other type of sinister ghostly being trying to lure them into the swamps.

The natural gas that we use today is almost purely methane. Ethane, propane, butane, isobutane and some rare gases are mostly present before processing. A lot of these other hydrocarbons can make pure natural gas dangerously volatile and corrosive for us to use in our homes. Mostly coal was used in our homes and cities until the Bunsen burner was invented. This invention brought an adjustable temperature flame into our homes. Now we use natural gas to heat our homes, as well as to operate our stoves, ovens and hot water heaters. Today, natural gas is one of the most popular and growing forms of energy that we use. As a regulated industry on the move towards cleaner burning fuels, natural gas has spurred new innovations and technologies that we will all be able to use for years to come. New ways are being found to keep natural gas environmentally friendly and more useable every day. Natural gas now supplies over a quarter of the world’s energy.