Földgáz - A környezetkímélő energia forrása
How long has natural gas been used?
The Chinese already used natural gas to illuminate their churches even before our era. The gas was delivered on bamboo pipes. This was the first example of the organized exploitation and delivery of natural gas. In the modern age, in the 19th century, natural gas was used for heating purposes in Fredonia, in United States of America. Natural gas was applied in a greater extent after 1884, when through a 23 kilometre long pipeline it was transported to Pittsburgh, where it was used for lighting apart from the heating. Since 1950 the USA was practically the sole exploiter of natural gas, then Russia, Canada, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Norway, Germany, Romania, Italy, Mexico, Venezuela, Algeria, Nigeria, Indonesia, Malaysia, and not so long ago the countries of the middle east, also joined in.
Apart from coal, natural gas is the only primary energy source which may be used directly. In comparison to other fuel materials it is exploitable more considerably, that is why its use is growing in the households for heating and refrigeration purposes, in the production processes and the generation of thermal energy and electricity. It is used as a base material in the chemical industry, mainly for processing crude oil.