proposing a ban on gas boilers in new homes, given the lower-carbon options now available. While humans have known about a flammable gas in the ground for thousands of years, the first known use of the term "natural gas" didn't come until 1825, said Trish Stewart, a science editor at the OED. It was linked to the arrival at the time of another energy innovation: manufactured gas, which was made by combusting coal, oil and other products. By the 1820s, manufactured gas was being made in gasworks near some urban centres, including London and Baltimore, Md., lighting city streets with gas lamps.