section_path: Important technological developments/Gas lighting
section_name: Gas lighting
paragraph_text: Gas lighting
  
  Though others made a similar innovation elsewhere, the large-scale introduction of gas lighting was the work of William Murdoch, an employee of Boulton & Watt. The process consisted of the large-scale gasification of coal in furnaces, the purification of the gas (removal of sulphur, ammonia, and heavy hydrocarbons), and its storage and distribution. The first gas lighting utilities were established in London between 1812 and 1820. They soon became one of the major consumers of coal in the UK. Gas lighting affected social and industrial organisation because it allowed factories and stores to remain open longer than with tallow candles or oil lamps. Its introduction allowed nightlife to flourish in cities and towns as interiors and streets could be lighted on a larger scale than before.