Energy resources (History)
Energy is the basis of industrial civilization. Without it, modern life cannot exist. During the 1970s the world began a painful adjustment to the vulnerability of energy supplies. In the long run, conservation practices may provide the time to sort out the range of potential technological options. While that process occurs the world will continue to be vulnerable to disruptions in the supply of oil, which, after World War II, became the most favored energy source.
Background of Today’s Situation
For most of human history wood was the first and the major source of energy. It was readily available because extensive forests grew in many parts of the world. The amount of wood needed for heating and cooking was relatively modest. Certain other energy sources, found only in localized areas, were also used in ancient times: asphalt, coal, and peat from surface deposits and oil in seepages from underground deposits.
This situation changed when wood began to be used during the Middle Ages to make charcoal, which in turn was used to reduce ores to metals. As forests were cut and wood supplies dwindled at the onset of the Industrial Revolution, charcoal was replaced by coke from coal in the reduction of ores. Coal, which also began to be used to drive steam engines, became the dominant energy source as the Industrial Revolution proceeded.