ABSTRACT
The supply of energy has been vital for the development of mankind. Pre-modern societies depended on animal and human power and on organic energy sources—solar energy, wood, water and peat—for cooking, heating and building. Industrializing societies increasingly used fossil fuels, in particular coal. Today’s modern societies completely rely on energy supply systems of oil, gas and electricity—produced through a variety of ways. In the past, fuel shortages, the emergence of technological alternatives and changes in societal preferences have pushed for transitions from one supply system to another. The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries saw a transition from wood to coal. This was followed by transitions to gas and oil in the twentieth century, complemented by the introduction of nuclear power after World War II. Whereas pre-industrial societies had to deal with wood shortages, today we are facing challenges that appear almost insurmountable. Over the last century, we have become highly addicted to a continuous supply of (relatively) cheap energy. But coal and oil resources seem near-depleted and the issue of global warming raises serious questions about the way mankind is threatening living conditions on our planet. Despite a growing sense of urgency about the need to change our current energy system, there is no easy solution: studies of energy transitions in the past indicate that such fuel transitions involve long-term processes. 1
