Our sun creates energy through the fusion reaction of hydrogen to form helium: that’s been going on for millions of years.
Here on earth, the use of hydrogen as an energy source commenced 227 years ago when William Murdoch lit his house and office in Redruth, Cornwall from town gas – a mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide – which he produced in a small retort in his back yard. Over the next century, gas works and gas distribution pipelines were built across the UK to keep the country warm and well lit.
The commercialisation of natural gas from the North Sea led to a broad decline of town gas production in the UK. Natural gas reserves in Russia have also been exploited in recent decades with pipelines transporting the fuel over thousands of kilometres to markets in Europe. The more recent emergence of liquefied natural gas (LNG) production, predominantly from sources in Australia, Qatar and the US has enabled Asian consumers to benefit from natural gas and has led to a further ramp down in the use of town gas as a fuel worldwide.
... to continue reading you must be subscribed
