The Significance of Coal as a World Energy Resource

Abstract

In the two hundred years that have passed since the start of the industrial revolution, the countries of Europe and North America, together with Japan, have consumed coal, crude oil and natural gas that took over 200 million years to create. As living standards in these countries have improved, demand for energy has soared. In a modern industrial society committed to continuous economic expansion the growth of energy supplies has become as important as expanding food supplies. People in the developed countries expect to live in warm and comfortable houses during winter and cool homes during summer They are surrounded by labour-saving gadgets in the home and have their tasks at work made less onerous by more complex machinery. And they take for granted the ability to drive freely in their own cars or travel abroad by aircraft. Every facet of modern life in the western world depends upon an adequate supply of energy.