Natural gas

Natural gas, also called gas, methane gas, or fossil gas, is a type of fossil fuel found deep underground. It is mostly made of a gas called methane, with small amounts of other gases. Because natural gas has no smell, special chemicals are added so people can detect leaks easily.

This gas is formed over millions of years from old plants and tiny sea creatures that were buried and changed by heat and pressure. We get natural gas from the ground, often near places where we find oil and coal. Burning natural gas gives us heat and electricity with fewer harmful smells and less dirt compared to other fuels, but it still affects our climate.

Processing the gas before we use it helps remove unwanted things like water and other gases. Natural gas can travel through big pipelines, and it can also be turned into a liquid for easier storage and transport. Understanding natural gas helps us see how we get energy and how it impacts our world.

Name

In the early 1800s, people began calling this fuel "natural gas" because it comes from the ground. This is different from coal gas, which is made by heating coal. Later, it was often just called "gas." But this is not the same as gasoline, which people also call "gas."

Some believe the name "natural" hides the risks it can cause to our climate. They suggest using "fossil gas" or "methane gas" instead, as these names show the environmental dangers better.

History

Natural gas can sometimes come out of the ground and burn for a very long time. In ancient Greece, gas flames at Mount Chimaera helped create the story of a fire-breathing creature called the Chimera. In ancient China, people used gas from drilling for salty water around 400 BC. They moved the gas through bamboo pipes to places where it was used.

Natural gas wasn’t used much until the early 1900s when long pipelines were built. Before that, people mostly used gas only near where it came out of the ground. In the United States, people first noticed natural gas around Lake Erie in the 1600s. In 1821, a man named William Hart dug the first commercial natural gas well in Fredonia, New York, which led to the creation of the Fredonia Gas Light Company in 1858. More wells were dug in other states, and then big pipelines started to be built in the 1920s.