ABSTRACT
The industrialisation project, which has come to characterise the experience of the developed countries, has undergone profound changes since 1970. This chapter examines the relationship between the evolution of an industrial model based on hydrocarbons, which has itself fuelled increased global consumption, and the environmental costs of this model. The lower-energy transition was most marked in the shift away from coal, which in the 1920s accounted for almost 80 per cent of commercial energy consumption. The environmental impacts of industrialisation depend upon the type and scale of the industrial activity, as well as the physical environment of different regions. The ‘hydrocarbon society’, which emphasises relentless industrialisation, places heavy demands on the consumption of non-renewable resources. The most important environmental aspect of the international division of labour is the effect of poverty, within even the middle-income countries which have experienced partial industrialisation.
