  Borovskikh-VA-vestnik-2025-1-ru.pdf |
- 17
- Confrontation of gas and electric lighting: history of the technology
- Borovskikh V.A. Confrontation of gas and electric lighting: history of the technology. Vestnik of Kostroma State University, 2025, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 124-131 (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.34216/1998-0817-2025-31-1-124-131
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.34216/1998-0817-2025-31-1-124-131
- УДК: 621.31.031 ; 621.1.01
- EDN: QVKTHP
- Publish date: 2025-01-10
- Annotation: The article is devoted to the study of the history of competition between gas and electric lighting in the 19th – the early 20th centuries. The author examines the stages of the formation of the two technologies in Russia, comparing their advantages and disadvantages. The history of gas lighting in Russia begins in 1811, somewhat later than in Europe. Since then, gas lamps have been replacing previously existing lighting methods. The gas industry reached its peak in the last quarter of the 19th century, after which it began to decline against the backdrop of increasing competition with electricity. Electric lighting appeared only in the 2nd half of the 19th century. The first successful experiment was the lighting of Liteiny (Foundry) Bridge with Yablochkov candles. But despite its successful application, electricity did not immediately replace gas jets. The problem was not only in technical difficulties. Economic and cultural factors became serious obstacles for the pioneers of both gas and electric lighting. Entrepreneurs had to not only look for large capital to implement their projects, but also fight the prejudices that prevailed in society. Innovations in the field of lighting were perceived as something dangerous, unnecessary, and ungodly. In order to dispel these myths, gas and electric companies installed lanterns in public places at their own expense, thereby demonstrating the advantages and safety of this type of lighting. Thus, the author explains the reasons for the coexistence of several types of lighting over several decades.
- Keywords: gas lighting, electric lighting, history of technology, electrical engineering, gas industry, incandescent lamp, illuminating gas
- Funding and acknowledgments: The research was funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation under the strategic academic leadership program “Priority 2030” (Agreement 075-15-2024-201 dated 06.02.2024)
- Literature list: Afanas'ev V.Ia., Kuz'min V.V. O razvitii konkurentnykh otnoshenii na elektroenergeticheskikh rynkakh [On the development of competitive relations in the electric power markets]. Vestnik universiteta [University Bulletin], 2015, no. 5, pp. 16-28. (In Russ.) Belov A.M., Buliukin D.A. Kostromichi-oktiabristy v Gosudarstvennoi dume Rossiiskoi imperii [Kostroma Octobrists in the State Duma of the Russian Empire]. Vestnik Kostromskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta [Bulletin of Kostroma State University], 2022, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 21-26. (In Russ.) Bochkareva A.S., Khotina Iu.V. K voprosu stanovleniia i razvitiia gazovoi otrasli v rossiiskoi imperii [On the issue of the formation and development of the gas industry in the Russian Empire]. Nauchnye trudy KubGTU: elektronnyi setevoi politematicheskii zhurnal [Scientific Works of KubSTU: electronic online polythematic journal], 2015, no. 13, pp. 49-60. (In Russ.) Borodin D.A., Kask A.N. Zolotoi vek elektrotekhniki v rossiiskoi i zarubezhnoi pechatnoi grafike [The Golden Age of Electrical Engineering in Russian and Foreign Printed Graphics]. Elektrichestvo [Electricity], 2020, no. 1, pp. 55-65. (In Russ.) Chikolev V.N. Istoriia elektricheskogo osveshcheniia [History of Electric Lighting]. Elektrichestvo [Electricity], 1880a, no. 5, pp. 73-79. (In Russ.) Chikolev V.N. Istoriia elektricheskogo osveshcheniia [History of Electric Lighting]. Elektrichestvo [Electricity], 1880b, no. 6, pp. 89-93. (In Russ.) Chikolev V.N. Sravnenie istorii osveshchenii: gazovogo i elektricheskogo [Comparison of the history of lighting: gas and electric]. Elektrichestvo [Electricity], 1880v, no. 3-4, pp. 45-52. (In Russ.) Gustov S.V., Sokolov A.R., Mitiurin D.V. Dva veka rossiiskogo gaza: v 3 t. T. 1. Peterburg – kolybel' rossijskogo gaza. 1811–1917 [Two Centuries of Russian Gas: in 3 vols. Vol. 1]. Saint Petersburg, Liki Rossii Publ., 2010, 303 p. (In Russ.) Khasanov I.I., Shakirov R.A. Istoriia razvitiia gazovogo osveshcheniia v Sankt-Peterburge v XIX – nachale XX veka [History of the development of gas lighting in St. Petersburg in the 19th – early 20th centuries]. Istoriia i pedagogika estestvoznaniia [History and pedagogy of natural science], 2023, no. 1, pp. 19-23. (In Russ.) Kosov A.S., Gogolevskii A.V. Ispol'zovanie gaza v Rossiiskoi imperii [Use of gas in the Russian Empire]. Internauka [Internauka], 2021, no. 28-1, pp. 16-17. (In Russ.) Kotliar L.B. «Ekonomiia, dostavliaemaia lunnymi nochami»: istoriia ulichnogo osveshcheniia Tsarskogo Sela [“Savings Delivered by Moonlit Nightsˮ: The History of Street Lighting in Tsarskoye Selo]. A maximus ad minima. Malye formy v istoricheskom landshafte [A maximus ad minima. Small forms in the historical landscape], 2017, pp. 207-216. (In Russ.) Matveichuk A.A. Predvestie gazovoi ery [Harbinger of the Gas Age]. Personal’nyi sait [Personal website]. URL: http://matveychyk-aa.info/index/predvestie_gazovoj_ehry/0-57 (access date: 05.06.2024). (In Russ.) Matveichuk A.A., Evdoshenko Iu.V. Istoki gazovoi otrasli Rossii, 1811-1945 gg. [The origins of the Russian gas industry, 1811-1945]. Moscow, Granitsa Publ., 2011, 592 p. (In Russ.) Nikiforova N.V., Sidorchuk I.V. Kul'turnaia istoriia elektrichestva v Rossii XIX veka: elektricheskii svet kak spektakl' i razvlechenie [A Cultural History of Electricity in 19th Century Russia: Electric Light as Performance and Entertainment]. Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki [Questions of the history of natural science and technology], 2017, vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 448-469. (In Russ.) Novoe osveshchenie gazokalil'nymi gorelkami d-ra Karla Auera fon Vel'sbakh [New gas-burner lighting by Dr. Carl Auer von Welsbach]. Kiev, Tip. P. Barskogo Publ., 1893, 15 p. (In Russ.) Ovcharov A.T., Shabalin E.V. Evoliutsiia naruzhnogo osveshcheniia g. Tomska [Evolution of outdoor lighting in Tomsk]. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo arkhitekturno-stroitel'nogo universiteta [Bulletin of Tomsk State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering], 2018, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 104-127. (In Russ.) Rein K. Svedeniia o gazovykh zavodakh v Rossii [Information about gas plants in Russia]. Saint Petersburg, 1888, 32 p. (In Russ.) Savel'eva O.O. Da budet svet! [Let there be light!]. Energiia: ekonomika, tekhnika, ekologiia [Energy: economics, technology, ecology], 2012, no. 5, pp. 70-76. (In Russ.) Volodin E.S. Elektrifikatsiia v dorevoliutsionnoi Rossii [Electrification in pre-revolutionary Russia]. Gumanitarnye nauki v sovremennom vuze: vchera, segodnia [G94 Humanities in a modern university: yesterday, today], 2022, pp. 433-440. (In Russ.) Zheral'di F. Gaz i Elekrichestvo [Gas and electricity]. Elektrichestvo [Electricity], 1880a, no. 8-9, pp. 112-114. (In Russ.) Zheral'di F. Ob elektricheskom osveshchenii ulits, mostov i ploshchadei [On the electric lighting of streets, bridges and squares]. Elektrichestvo [Electricity], 1880b, no. 8-9, pp. 120-123. (In Russ.) Zotin O. Upravlenie osveshcheniem otkrytykh prostranstv (ch. 1) [Lighting control for open spaces (part 1)]. Poluprovodnikovaia svetotekhnika [Semiconductor lighting technology], 2014, vol. 1, no. 27, pp. 30-34. (In Russ.) Clement-Desormes Appreciation du procede d'eclairage par le gaz hydrogene du charbon de terre. Paris, 1819, 41 p. (In Fr.) Vikström H. Producing electric light: How resource scarcity affected light bulbs, 1880-1914. Technology and culture, 2020, vol. 61, no. 3, pp. 901-922.