ABSTRACT
The twentieth century has been called “the century of oil”. Coal, which fired the industrial growth of the previous century, was mostly displaced by this more versatile fuel. In the second half of this century, natural gas has joined oil as a fuel and a feedstock for the plastics, textiles, chemicals and fertilizers on which developed societies rely. But only in the past few decades have the side-effects of this hydrocarbon dependency been assessed: atmospheric smog, marine and river pollution, acid rain and the increase in greenhouse gases.
