You certainly enjoy your LED lighting, and CCFL power saving bulbs, and the powerful Xeon lights which glow bluish in you car, but back in the past when electricity was very hard to store and handle, people had alternative methods to provide light. A very common one was to use the Carbide Lamps. The idea is simple: When Calcium Carbide mixes with water, the reaction produces a highly flammable gas, acetylene. Burning this gas produces a high temperature and very bright flame. This second property was used back then to provide light to houses, miners and even cars! While the first property is still used to cut thick steel plates.
Here is an interesting video showing how you can make your own vintage Calcium Carbide Lamp...
And here are some facts and experiments with Calcium Carbide from the professionals, the Periodic Table Videos
And here is another bonus video showing how you can make your own calcium carbide...
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