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SocietieS Beyond oil
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overall how societies are ‘energized’ is crucial for understanding how they work, how they are ‘powered’. this powering of societies depends upon systems of energy production, distribu- tion and consumption. these vary enormously, from muscle power, wood, wind, water and sun to coal, gas, oil, hydroelectric, geothermal and nuclear, from small-scale localized production to huge global systems. Until the eighteenth century energy derived from muscle power (80–85 per cent), wind, wood for burning and water. now the fossil fuels of coal, gas and oil account for over four-fifths of the world’s current energy.1
energy systems are incredibly important. they ‘generate’ very varied and often highly unequal economic, social and political patterns. Such powering of society often takes a long time to change.