Curious facts tumble from the pages that the aspidistra owed its popularity, for example, to its ability to withstand the fumes from gas lighting.

ECONOMIST: 19th-century domesticity

Case in point: a scene from the upcoming documentary Gasland, which features a man lighting his faucet water on fire and making the ridiculous claim that natural gas drilling is responsible for the incident.

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Thanks to the solar heater, a shower is a daily possibility, and the biogas digester -- which converts human and pig waste to a clean gas that can be pressurized -- has enabled cooking and lighting.

CNN: 'Green' revolution under way in rural China

Lighting fixtures are fronted by coppered metal pieces shaped like a sketch of a gas lantern, while a similarly drawn shield motif decorates the walls.

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