You can be forgiven for not thinking very often about the energy that is supplied to our homes and how our houses are heated. However, with the price of fuel a hot topic in the news, we are all thinking about it a great deal more. If you are interested, here are some facts about natural gas.
Why Gas Smells
Natural gas is odourless and colourless. To make it easier and safer to detect, especially in the event of a leak in your system or in the pipes delivering gas to your home, suppliers add a smell. The smell comes from mercaptan, which gives gas its rotten egg aroma.
What Natural Gas Is Made Of
Natural gas is made up mainly of methane, but it also contains smaller amounts of other compounds such as ethane, propane and butane. It is thought that natural gas seeping from the ground was first noticed in ancient times, possibly when lightning ignited gas escaping from the earth, prompting locals to investigate further.
Transporting Gas
Transporting gas became the next problem to solve, and this was first done by the Chinese, who used pipes made from bamboo to move the gas to where they needed it. When you need to replace your Gas Meter box, contact a site like meterbox.co.uk/gas-meter-boxes
Gas Lighting
It wasn’t until 1792 that gas lighting was first used in the UK, by the engineer William Murdoch. Gas lighting technology then advanced quickly and was used to light streets across the country.
More Than Heating
We often think of gas as the fuel that heats our homes and cooks our food, but it is used for many different things, including the creation of vinyl flooring and carpets as well as deodorant and mobile phones!
Reducing Our Dependence
The UK has been looking at ways to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels, and as a result the country has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions to levels last seen in Victorian times, but there is much more to be done to help the climate.