A fuel gas once produced from the heating of coal in the absence of oxygen. Once used extensively in the nineteenth and early part of the twentieth centuries, coal gas typically contained hydrogen, methane, and a significant amount of toxic carbon monoxide. The by-products of the production were coke and coal tar, which is a residue containing benzene, naphthalene, and other organic compounds. The availability of natural gas in the 1970s led to the decline in its use.