ABSTRACT
The energy historiography of the United States has been strongly influenced by the concept of 'energy transitions'. The concept has been adopted in discussion about future energy development and use, with an eye toward promoting sustainable development. This chapter discusses various uses of the concept and its promise for clarifying issues. The transition to a 'hydrogen economy' or a 'hydrogen society' – employing hydrogen fuel cells that emit only water and other environmentally friendly technologies – seemed like a promising option. Some commentators suggested that industrialized countries might get started on the hydrogen path by 'piggybacking' on existing energy infrastructures. In the 1980s, in some inquiries into the notion of energy transitions, it was asserted that the United States had entered a third transition from petroleum and natural gas to a wide array of alternative fuels in the late 1960s.
