Global Energy Shifts: Fostering Sustainability in a Turbulent Age

by Bruce Podobnik

Overview

In the latter part of the nineteenth century, the citizens of Great Britain faced a formidable challenge: coal resources seemed destined to run out and commentators were unable to foresee a viable alternative fuel. To address the crisis, military strategists were urged to seize control of coal in foreign lands, and companies were encouraged to increase domestic production of the resource.

In Global Energy Shifts, Bruce Podobnik draws intriguing parallels between the "coal panics" that once swept through Britain and the "oil panics" that grip the world today. His concise history of global energy use contextualizes the coal and oil scares, demonstrating how the convergence of specific geopolitical, commercial, and social conditions can generate rapid and far-reaching transformations in the energy foundations of our world.

Ultimately, Podobnik informs readers on how a "crisis" of one fuel system is quickly averted with the introduction of another, and describes opportunities for shifting our problematic, oil-based system toward a renewable energy system.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781592132942
Publisher:	Temple University Press
Publication date:	11/01/2005
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

What People are Saying About This

Gavin Bridge

Global Energy Shifts is a significant contribution, and one made all the more forceful by the innovative use of diverse data sources.