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I couldn't find anything on Google under the tagline "CH4, the clean gas", and all of the marketing I could find called it natrual gas instead. It was marketed

I couldn't find anything on Google under the tagline "CH4, the clean gas", and all of the marketing I could find called it natrual gas instead. It was marketed as a "clean" solution, laughable as that may be. I guess it's a little less bullshit than all of the "clean coal" marketing.

Jtsummers 2y ago
They wouldn't have advertised it as "CH4", that's not how people know it. It'd be methane or natural gas, more likely natural gas. Though the examples I'm coming up with are more recent than I was thinking (last decade) so unless GP is very young wouldn't have been around in their childhood. Continuing my search, but I have recollections of a 2000s push for natural gas that was heavily predicated on its "cleanness". Lots of city and school buses, for instance, were switching to CNG from diesel in that time period (and in comparison, CNG is almost certainly cleaner than diesel). EDIT: Ok, found some things. Google Image search for (no quotes) "clean natural gas" and set the range to 2000-2010. You'll find a variety of images both for and against this claim. Including things like "This Bus Is Running On Clean Natural Gas" (2009) [0] or "Clean. Affordable. Abundant. American. Natural gas is the answer. Tell Congress to put it to work." (apparently from 2010) [1] [0] https://images.app.goo.gl/yfrQn8fYrB7zLqqh9 https://images.app.goo.gl/yfrQn8fYrB7zLqqh9 [1] https://images.app.goo.gl/4Aj7ybMt3wVWq49BA https://images.app.goo.gl/4Aj7ybMt3wVWq49BA Here's [2] an example from the 1980s calling it cleaner, source for me was [3]. [2] https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ympy04dETxXWfqkCn0zm9NmE1z19x4PI/view https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ympy04dETxXWfqkCn0zm9NmE1z1... [3] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/18/the-forgotten-oil-ads-that-told-us-climate-change-was-nothing https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/18/the-forg...
- seiferteric 2y ago
  Also methane has a higher proportion of hydrogen than other fuels and so releases less CO2 and more water when burned.
- jandrese 2y ago
  The problem with that theory is that it is hard to mistake "natural gas" for "CO2". CO2 to CH4 is exactly the sort of thing that people would mix up.
  - Jtsummers 2y ago
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41184982 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41184982 - from the original commenter in reply to my question. They apparently did make that mistake.
  - xboxnolifes 2y ago
    The problem with this theory is underestimating just how fallible human memory is.

Jtsummers 2y ago

They wouldn't have advertised it as "CH4", that's not how people know it. It'd be methane or natural gas, more likely natural gas. Though the examples I'm coming up with are more recent than I was thinking (last decade) so unless GP is very young wouldn't have been around in their childhood. Continuing my search, but I have recollections of a 2000s push for natural gas that was heavily predicated on its "cleanness". Lots of city and school buses, for instance, were switching to CNG from diesel in that time period (and in comparison, CNG is almost certainly cleaner than diesel). EDIT: Ok, found some things. Google Image search for (no quotes) "clean natural gas" and set the range to 2000-2010. You'll find a variety of images both for and against this claim. Including things like "This Bus Is Running On Clean Natural Gas" (2009) [0] or "Clean. Affordable. Abundant. American. Natural gas is the answer. Tell Congress to put it to work." (apparently from 2010) [1] [0] https://images.app.goo.gl/yfrQn8fYrB7zLqqh9 https://images.app.goo.gl/yfrQn8fYrB7zLqqh9 [1] https://images.app.goo.gl/4Aj7ybMt3wVWq49BA https://images.app.goo.gl/4Aj7ybMt3wVWq49BA Here's [2] an example from the 1980s calling it cleaner, source for me was [3]. [2] https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ympy04dETxXWfqkCn0zm9NmE1z19x4PI/view https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ympy04dETxXWfqkCn0zm9NmE1z1... [3] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/18/the-forgotten-oil-ads-that-told-us-climate-change-was-nothing https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/18/the-forg...

seiferteric 2y ago
Also methane has a higher proportion of hydrogen than other fuels and so releases less CO2 and more water when burned.
jandrese 2y ago
The problem with that theory is that it is hard to mistake "natural gas" for "CO2". CO2 to CH4 is exactly the sort of thing that people would mix up.
- Jtsummers 2y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41184982 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41184982 - from the original commenter in reply to my question. They apparently did make that mistake.
- xboxnolifes 2y ago
  The problem with this theory is underestimating just how fallible human memory is.