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2004-05 Seminars
The Rise and Fall of the Manufactured Gas
Industry in the United States
Joel A. Tarr
Carnegie Mellon University
Abstract
From approximately the 1850s
through the 1950s, gas produced from the heating of coal or other organic
substances provided a major source of energy in U.S. urban areas.
Initially used most widely for lighting, it subsequently became an
important energy source for other household and industrial uses. This talk
will provide an overview of the development of the industry and its
critical innovations and transitions as it competed with other sources of
energy. It will also examine the importance of regulatory standards in
hindering the move of manufactured gas from primarily a lighting fuel to a
provider of energy for industry as well as households. The demise of the
industry occurred primarily in the period from the 1920s through the 1950s
with the shift from manufactured gas to natural gas as a major energy
source. I will conclude with a discussion of the impacts of the MGP
industry on the environment and their implications for the present.
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