Summary - TST 22
TRANSPORTES, SERVICIOS Y TELECOMUNICACIONES
Florentino Moyano Jiménez
La hulla: auge y declive en la industria del gas catalana y española. El caso de la fábrica de gas de Reus (1854-1969)
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SUMMARY TST 22
Key Words:
Prices, Raw materials, Import, Gas industry, Business
History, Production management.
[ Abstract ]
This paper analyzes the evolution of the price of coal reaching the gasworks in the Catalan town of Reus in the period 1854 -1969. The case of the Gas Reusense company allows an insight into the social and political conditions affecting the price and supply of coal in the gas industry. During the nineteenth century, the demand for British coal dictated gas production due to the poor quality and excessive cost of domestic coal. In the twentieth century, Spanish coal industry protection barred British coal. In the example of Gas Reusense the aim is to show how this change affected it and the solutions adopted by the gasworks in periods of coal shortages. We can also see how the Reus plant languished and disappeared during the sixties as technological change in the production of gas replaced coal with petroleum products.
[ Abstract ]
This paper analyzes the evolution of the price of coal reaching the gasworks in the Catalan town of Reus in the period 1854 -1969. The case of the Gas Reusense company allows an insight into the social and political conditions affecting the price and supply of coal in the gas industry. During the nineteenth century, the demand for British coal dictated gas production due to the poor quality and excessive cost of domestic coal. In the twentieth century, Spanish coal industry protection barred British coal. In the example of Gas Reusense the aim is to show how this change affected it and the solutions adopted by the gasworks in periods of coal shortages. We can also see how the Reus plant languished and disappeared during the sixties as technological change in the production of gas replaced coal with petroleum products.