Vaclav Smil
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195168754
- eISBN:
- 9780199783601
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195168755.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This book is a systematic interdisciplinary account of two epochal trends: the history of the 20th century’s technical transformation based on the unprecedented surge of innovation that took place in ...
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This book is a systematic interdisciplinary account of two epochal trends: the history of the 20th century’s technical transformation based on the unprecedented surge of innovation that took place in Europe and North America during the three pre-WWI generation (1867-1914); and the history of new fundamental inventions during the period 1914-2000. Mass consumption of fossil fuels provided the energetic foundation of this progress. New ways of making steel — the leading metal of our civilization — and new materials including plastics and silicon, opened entirely new technical possibilities. Rationalized production, be it in agriculture or manufacturing, benefited from advancing mechanization, automation, and robotization. New epochal inventions included the discovery of nuclear fission, followed by the rapid development of nuclear weapons and commercial generation of nuclear electricity; the discovery of gas turbines (and their use in jet airplanes as well as in stationary applications); and the invention of solid-state electronics based on semiconductors used to make transistors, integrated circuits, and microprocessors, the key components of modern computing. The new economy based on unprecedented levels of energy consumption brought not only mass consumption and higher quality of life, but also some worrisome social problems and environmental changes; its prospects remain uncertain.Less
This book is a systematic interdisciplinary account of two epochal trends: the history of the 20th century’s technical transformation based on the unprecedented surge of innovation that took place in Europe and North America during the three pre-WWI generation (1867-1914); and the history of new fundamental inventions during the period 1914-2000. Mass consumption of fossil fuels provided the energetic foundation of this progress. New ways of making steel — the leading metal of our civilization — and new materials including plastics and silicon, opened entirely new technical possibilities. Rationalized production, be it in agriculture or manufacturing, benefited from advancing mechanization, automation, and robotization. New epochal inventions included the discovery of nuclear fission, followed by the rapid development of nuclear weapons and commercial generation of nuclear electricity; the discovery of gas turbines (and their use in jet airplanes as well as in stationary applications); and the invention of solid-state electronics based on semiconductors used to make transistors, integrated circuits, and microprocessors, the key components of modern computing. The new economy based on unprecedented levels of energy consumption brought not only mass consumption and higher quality of life, but also some worrisome social problems and environmental changes; its prospects remain uncertain.
Vaclav Smil
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195168754
- eISBN:
- 9780199783601
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195168755.003.0002
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
Our civilization is based on massive consumption of fossil fuels. This chapter begins by examining technical advances of energy industries, before turning to energy transitions and the process of ...
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Our civilization is based on massive consumption of fossil fuels. This chapter begins by examining technical advances of energy industries, before turning to energy transitions and the process of decarbonization of global energy supply. The second section deals with electricity production in general, and with nuclear generation (as well as nuclear weapons) in particular. The last section traces the invention and deployment of the only two new prime movers introduced during the 20th century: gas turbines and rocket engines.Less
Our civilization is based on massive consumption of fossil fuels. This chapter begins by examining technical advances of energy industries, before turning to energy transitions and the process of decarbonization of global energy supply. The second section deals with electricity production in general, and with nuclear generation (as well as nuclear weapons) in particular. The last section traces the invention and deployment of the only two new prime movers introduced during the 20th century: gas turbines and rocket engines.
Stephen Tindale and Chris Hewett
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294894
- eISBN:
- 9780191599064
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294891.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
Stephen Tindale and Chris Hewett analyse one of the most‐discussed policy tools available to politicians for moving towards sustainability: environmental taxation. Such taxation is usually regarded ...
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Stephen Tindale and Chris Hewett analyse one of the most‐discussed policy tools available to politicians for moving towards sustainability: environmental taxation. Such taxation is usually regarded as regressive and therefore socially unjust – one reason sustainability and justice are sometimes regarded as pulling in opposite directions. Tindale and Hewett argue against this assumption via an examination of domestic fuel and transport taxes, showing how environmental taxation can be made progressive with careful design and attention to surrounding fiscal conditions. They also say that the greatest cause of poverty is unemployment, and that a package of measures to stimulate environmental industries would do much to bring sustainability and justice into alignment.Less
Stephen Tindale and Chris Hewett analyse one of the most‐discussed policy tools available to politicians for moving towards sustainability: environmental taxation. Such taxation is usually regarded as regressive and therefore socially unjust – one reason sustainability and justice are sometimes regarded as pulling in opposite directions. Tindale and Hewett argue against this assumption via an examination of domestic fuel and transport taxes, showing how environmental taxation can be made progressive with careful design and attention to surrounding fiscal conditions. They also say that the greatest cause of poverty is unemployment, and that a package of measures to stimulate environmental industries would do much to bring sustainability and justice into alignment.
Vaclav Smil
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780262035774
- eISBN:
- 9780262338301
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262035774.001.0001
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
Energy is the only universal currency; it is necessary for getting anything done. The conversion of energy on Earth ranges from terra-forming forces of plate tectonics to cumulative erosive effects ...
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Energy is the only universal currency; it is necessary for getting anything done. The conversion of energy on Earth ranges from terra-forming forces of plate tectonics to cumulative erosive effects of raindrops. Life on Earth depends on the photosynthetic conversion of solar energy into plant biomass. Humans have come to rely on many more energy flows—ranging from fossil fuels to photovoltaic generation of electricity—for their civilized existence. This book provides a comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today’s fossil fuel-driven civilization. Humans are the only species that can systematically harness energies outside their bodies, using the power of their intellect and an enormous variety of artifacts—from the simplest tools to internal combustion engines and nuclear reactors. The epochal transition to fossil fuels affected everything: agriculture, industry, transportation, weapons, communication, economics, urbanization, quality of life, politics, and the environment. This book describes humanity’s energy eras in panoramic and interdisciplinary fashion, offering readers a magisterial overview.Less
Energy is the only universal currency; it is necessary for getting anything done. The conversion of energy on Earth ranges from terra-forming forces of plate tectonics to cumulative erosive effects of raindrops. Life on Earth depends on the photosynthetic conversion of solar energy into plant biomass. Humans have come to rely on many more energy flows—ranging from fossil fuels to photovoltaic generation of electricity—for their civilized existence. This book provides a comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today’s fossil fuel-driven civilization. Humans are the only species that can systematically harness energies outside their bodies, using the power of their intellect and an enormous variety of artifacts—from the simplest tools to internal combustion engines and nuclear reactors. The epochal transition to fossil fuels affected everything: agriculture, industry, transportation, weapons, communication, economics, urbanization, quality of life, politics, and the environment. This book describes humanity’s energy eras in panoramic and interdisciplinary fashion, offering readers a magisterial overview.
John R. B. Lighton
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195310610
- eISBN:
- 9780199871414
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310610.003.0014
- Subject:
- Biology, Animal Biology, Biotechnology
All analyzers have strengths and limitations that vary with the technology used, and directly affect their suitability for different types of metabolic rate measurement. This chapter discusses the ...
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All analyzers have strengths and limitations that vary with the technology used, and directly affect their suitability for different types of metabolic rate measurement. This chapter discusses the chief technologies utilized in aerial gas analyzers, and their advantages, disadvantages, and operating characteristics. For oxygen analyzers, the single channel and differential heated zirconia cell, single channel and differential fuel cell, and paramagnetic types are described. For carbon dioxide analyzers, the single-wavelength and dual-wavelength non-dispersive infrared types are discussed. For water vapor analyzers, the chilled-mirror and capacitive types are considered.Less
All analyzers have strengths and limitations that vary with the technology used, and directly affect their suitability for different types of metabolic rate measurement. This chapter discusses the chief technologies utilized in aerial gas analyzers, and their advantages, disadvantages, and operating characteristics. For oxygen analyzers, the single channel and differential heated zirconia cell, single channel and differential fuel cell, and paramagnetic types are described. For carbon dioxide analyzers, the single-wavelength and dual-wavelength non-dispersive infrared types are discussed. For water vapor analyzers, the chilled-mirror and capacitive types are considered.
Nils Ringe
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199572557
- eISBN:
- 9780191722431
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199572557.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, European Union
Chapter 5 examines the role of focal points as mechanisms of information provision by analyzing a series of legislative proposals as case studies. It draws on interviews with EU officials and the ...
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Chapter 5 examines the role of focal points as mechanisms of information provision by analyzing a series of legislative proposals as case studies. It draws on interviews with EU officials and the statistical analysis of individual final votes on the EP floor. This chapter illustrates how focal points shape EP policy-making processes and outcomes. While Chapter 3 demonstrates that the policy positions of expert legislators determine the positions of their nonexpert colleagues on the EP floor, Chapter 5 shows how this process takes place for invested nonexpert legislators. The legislative proposals analyzed concern EU takeover legislation, the statute and financing of EU-level political parties, proposals on fuel quality and motor vehicle emissions, liability for environmental damage, the liberalization of port services in the EU, and EU citizenship and the free movement of people.Less
Chapter 5 examines the role of focal points as mechanisms of information provision by analyzing a series of legislative proposals as case studies. It draws on interviews with EU officials and the statistical analysis of individual final votes on the EP floor. This chapter illustrates how focal points shape EP policy-making processes and outcomes. While Chapter 3 demonstrates that the policy positions of expert legislators determine the positions of their nonexpert colleagues on the EP floor, Chapter 5 shows how this process takes place for invested nonexpert legislators. The legislative proposals analyzed concern EU takeover legislation, the statute and financing of EU-level political parties, proposals on fuel quality and motor vehicle emissions, liability for environmental damage, the liberalization of port services in the EU, and EU citizenship and the free movement of people.
Gerard P. Smith (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195105155
- eISBN:
- 9780199848263
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195105155.001.0001
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, Sensory and Motor Systems
What is it that stops the process of eating? This book succeeds in answering comprehensively this deceptively simple question, while incorporating the latest scientific research. Unless we stop ...
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What is it that stops the process of eating? This book succeeds in answering comprehensively this deceptively simple question, while incorporating the latest scientific research. Unless we stop eating by choice—for medical or social reasons—an unconscious physiological process is triggered through negative feedback from ingested food as it travels from the mouth through the stomach and on to the small intestine. This process is called satiation. Recent scientific evidence has revealed that food stimuli activate this process before the actual absorption of digested food, which significantly changes the traditional perspective that satiation, depends on the post-absorptive repletion of metabolic fuels. This book presents the first detailed account of the neurobiological mechanisms of satiation. The ten chapters of the book detail the neural, endocrine, and cellular underpinnings of the process. Chapters discuss different aspects of satiation and present a critical overview of recent advances and current problems in this field. The inclusion of a chapter on the satiation of alcohol is unique in a book on food intake, and shows the convergence of ideas on satiation in these two areas.Less
What is it that stops the process of eating? This book succeeds in answering comprehensively this deceptively simple question, while incorporating the latest scientific research. Unless we stop eating by choice—for medical or social reasons—an unconscious physiological process is triggered through negative feedback from ingested food as it travels from the mouth through the stomach and on to the small intestine. This process is called satiation. Recent scientific evidence has revealed that food stimuli activate this process before the actual absorption of digested food, which significantly changes the traditional perspective that satiation, depends on the post-absorptive repletion of metabolic fuels. This book presents the first detailed account of the neurobiological mechanisms of satiation. The ten chapters of the book detail the neural, endocrine, and cellular underpinnings of the process. Chapters discuss different aspects of satiation and present a critical overview of recent advances and current problems in this field. The inclusion of a chapter on the satiation of alcohol is unique in a book on food intake, and shows the convergence of ideas on satiation in these two areas.
Stefano Atzeni and JÜrgen Meyer-Ter-Vehn
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198562641
- eISBN:
- 9780191714030
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198562641.003.0001
- Subject:
- Physics, Nuclear and Plasma Physics
This chapter discusses nuclear fusion reactions. The concepts of reaction cross-section and of Maxwell-averaged reactivity are defined, and the standard parametrization of these two important ...
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This chapter discusses nuclear fusion reactions. The concepts of reaction cross-section and of Maxwell-averaged reactivity are defined, and the standard parametrization of these two important quantities are presented and discussed qualitatively. A simplified analytical treatment of the barrier penetration is also described. The Gamow form of the Maxwellian reactivity is derived. A few fusion reactions of interest to energy production and to astrophysics are discussed. These include the deuterium-tritium reaction, other deuterium reactions, the p-p and CNO stellar cycles, and those occurring in the so-called advanced fusion fuels. Analytical expressions, fits, data, and graphs for the evaluation of their cross-sections and reactivities are provided. The last part of the chapter briefly discusses how strong material compression and spin polarization affect fusion reactivities. The principles of muon-catalysed fusion are also outlined.Less
This chapter discusses nuclear fusion reactions. The concepts of reaction cross-section and of Maxwell-averaged reactivity are defined, and the standard parametrization of these two important quantities are presented and discussed qualitatively. A simplified analytical treatment of the barrier penetration is also described. The Gamow form of the Maxwellian reactivity is derived. A few fusion reactions of interest to energy production and to astrophysics are discussed. These include the deuterium-tritium reaction, other deuterium reactions, the p-p and CNO stellar cycles, and those occurring in the so-called advanced fusion fuels. Analytical expressions, fits, data, and graphs for the evaluation of their cross-sections and reactivities are provided. The last part of the chapter briefly discusses how strong material compression and spin polarization affect fusion reactivities. The principles of muon-catalysed fusion are also outlined.
Robin I.M. Dunbar
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264980
- eISBN:
- 9780191754135
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264980.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Health, Illness, and Medicine
The brain consumes about 20 per cent of the total energy intake in human adults. Primates, and especially humans, have unusually large brains for body size compared with other vertebrates, and ...
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The brain consumes about 20 per cent of the total energy intake in human adults. Primates, and especially humans, have unusually large brains for body size compared with other vertebrates, and fuelling these is a significant drain on both time and energy. Larger-brained primates generally eat fruit-intense diets, but human brains are so large that a reduction in gut size is needed to free up sufficient resources to allow a larger brain to be evolved, placing further pressure on foraging. The early invention of cooking increased nutrient absorption by around 30 per cent over raw food. Increasing digestibility in this way perhaps inevitably leads to risk of obesity when food is super-abundant, as it is in post-industrial societies. However, obesity has clearly been around for a long time, as suggested by the late Palaeolithic Venus figures of Europe, so it is not a novel problem.Less
The brain consumes about 20 per cent of the total energy intake in human adults. Primates, and especially humans, have unusually large brains for body size compared with other vertebrates, and fuelling these is a significant drain on both time and energy. Larger-brained primates generally eat fruit-intense diets, but human brains are so large that a reduction in gut size is needed to free up sufficient resources to allow a larger brain to be evolved, placing further pressure on foraging. The early invention of cooking increased nutrient absorption by around 30 per cent over raw food. Increasing digestibility in this way perhaps inevitably leads to risk of obesity when food is super-abundant, as it is in post-industrial societies. However, obesity has clearly been around for a long time, as suggested by the late Palaeolithic Venus figures of Europe, so it is not a novel problem.
David Michael Newbery
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199278596
- eISBN:
- 9780191602856
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199278598.003.0007
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Financial Economics
Designing an efficient set of road user taxes and charges involves charging for scarce road space, setting corrective taxes for environmental externalities, and possibly employing additional taxes to ...
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Designing an efficient set of road user taxes and charges involves charging for scarce road space, setting corrective taxes for environmental externalities, and possibly employing additional taxes to improve the overall efficiency and equity of the tax system. As illustrated with data from the UK, congestion costs comprise the largest part of the efficient road user charge, with road damage costs and externalities a relatively small part. The best approach to internalising congestion costs is a cordon toll, although its efficient design turns out to be very complex. Road fuel taxes should probably be set at a level that accounts for the average long-run marginal cost of inter-urban roads for typical cars, with the vehicle excise duty set to adjust total payments by type of vehicle. Furthermore, the external cost of emissions of greenhouse gases, nitrogen oxides, and particulates can be reduced through tailpipe emission standards as well as met by differentially higher excises on, say, leaded than on unleaded petrol. An ad valorem tax on the component of car insurance that covers accident costs would internalise accident externalities. The study calculates the pure road charge and green tax elements in the UK at 0.60 euros/litre for petrol and 0.67 euros for diesel. If this applied generally across the EU, the Netherlands and Germany would be charging petrol at about the right rate and only the UK would be overcharging it. All countries except the UK are probably undercharging diesel. Overall, a strong argument can be made for revenue-neutral adjustments in total revenue from road use to improve efficiency by shifting over to better-targeted congestion taxes, such as cordon tolls and road pricing.Less
Designing an efficient set of road user taxes and charges involves charging for scarce road space, setting corrective taxes for environmental externalities, and possibly employing additional taxes to improve the overall efficiency and equity of the tax system. As illustrated with data from the UK, congestion costs comprise the largest part of the efficient road user charge, with road damage costs and externalities a relatively small part. The best approach to internalising congestion costs is a cordon toll, although its efficient design turns out to be very complex. Road fuel taxes should probably be set at a level that accounts for the average long-run marginal cost of inter-urban roads for typical cars, with the vehicle excise duty set to adjust total payments by type of vehicle. Furthermore, the external cost of emissions of greenhouse gases, nitrogen oxides, and particulates can be reduced through tailpipe emission standards as well as met by differentially higher excises on, say, leaded than on unleaded petrol. An ad valorem tax on the component of car insurance that covers accident costs would internalise accident externalities. The study calculates the pure road charge and green tax elements in the UK at 0.60 euros/litre for petrol and 0.67 euros for diesel. If this applied generally across the EU, the Netherlands and Germany would be charging petrol at about the right rate and only the UK would be overcharging it. All countries except the UK are probably undercharging diesel. Overall, a strong argument can be made for revenue-neutral adjustments in total revenue from road use to improve efficiency by shifting over to better-targeted congestion taxes, such as cordon tolls and road pricing.
Malanima Paolo, Astrid Kander, and Paul Warde
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691143620
- eISBN:
- 9781400848881
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691143620.003.0011
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter summarizes the book's main findings and their implications for the future, reflecting in particular on the limits of growth, peak oil, technology, and prospects for a return to the ...
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This chapter summarizes the book's main findings and their implications for the future, reflecting in particular on the limits of growth, peak oil, technology, and prospects for a return to the organic economy. The central part of the book's argument is that pre-industrial Europe faced energy constraints to economic growth, and was set free from these constraints by the adoption of fossil fuels, including coal. It suggests that the transition to fossil fuels was both a necessary condition and an enabling factor leading to modern growth. This concluding chapter presents two tenets that can inform contemporary debates about energy transitions and the future of economic growth. First, societies move on trajectories, but what has happened in the past bears a strong influence on paths taken in the future. Second, we can establish relationships between energy consumption and economic growth, even as the character of these relationships is not stable over time.Less
This chapter summarizes the book's main findings and their implications for the future, reflecting in particular on the limits of growth, peak oil, technology, and prospects for a return to the organic economy. The central part of the book's argument is that pre-industrial Europe faced energy constraints to economic growth, and was set free from these constraints by the adoption of fossil fuels, including coal. It suggests that the transition to fossil fuels was both a necessary condition and an enabling factor leading to modern growth. This concluding chapter presents two tenets that can inform contemporary debates about energy transitions and the future of economic growth. First, societies move on trajectories, but what has happened in the past bears a strong influence on paths taken in the future. Second, we can establish relationships between energy consumption and economic growth, even as the character of these relationships is not stable over time.
Malanima Paolo, Astrid Kander, and Paul Warde
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691143620
- eISBN:
- 9781400848881
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691143620.003.0004
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter examines the dynamics of the early modern European economy in order to highlight both the possibilities for development and the constraints of the old European world. It first considers ...
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This chapter examines the dynamics of the early modern European economy in order to highlight both the possibilities for development and the constraints of the old European world. It first considers population and climate, focusing on two main changes: saving land, which implied a transition in the kind of energy carriers, and saving labor, which indicated a transition in the kind of converters used to engender mechanical work. The chapter proceeds by discussing the demographic transition in Europe, the last phase of the Little Ice Age, and the output of the soil in Europe. It also assesses energy scarcity, taking into account energy prices, real wages and living conditions, fuels, the decline in energy consumption per head, and the rise in efficiency. Finally, it describes the use of coal and peat in Europe.Less
This chapter examines the dynamics of the early modern European economy in order to highlight both the possibilities for development and the constraints of the old European world. It first considers population and climate, focusing on two main changes: saving land, which implied a transition in the kind of energy carriers, and saving labor, which indicated a transition in the kind of converters used to engender mechanical work. The chapter proceeds by discussing the demographic transition in Europe, the last phase of the Little Ice Age, and the output of the soil in Europe. It also assesses energy scarcity, taking into account energy prices, real wages and living conditions, fuels, the decline in energy consumption per head, and the rise in efficiency. Finally, it describes the use of coal and peat in Europe.
Robyn Muncy
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691122731
- eISBN:
- 9781400852413
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691122731.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter details events in Josephine Roche's life from 1929 to 1932. As Roche and the miners at Rocky Mountain Fuel (RMF) implemented their “industrial Magna Carta,” they faced two major threats. ...
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This chapter details events in Josephine Roche's life from 1929 to 1932. As Roche and the miners at Rocky Mountain Fuel (RMF) implemented their “industrial Magna Carta,” they faced two major threats. One was the Great Depression. The other was the determination of Roche's competitors to drive her out of business because of her labor policy. When Roche took over RMF, the United States and most of the industrialized world were on the brink of the most profound economic downturn of the twentieth century. That global economic contraction made Roche's competitors the more eager to force her out of the coalfields and made it harder for her to maintain high labor standards. Remarkably, she held on, heralded by progressives as a “prophet of a new and wiser social order.” In the process, she established her place within an emerging political elite that would soon dominate national politics and government. Indeed, her work at RMF was one of many threads tying the Progressive Era to the New Deal.Less
This chapter details events in Josephine Roche's life from 1929 to 1932. As Roche and the miners at Rocky Mountain Fuel (RMF) implemented their “industrial Magna Carta,” they faced two major threats. One was the Great Depression. The other was the determination of Roche's competitors to drive her out of business because of her labor policy. When Roche took over RMF, the United States and most of the industrialized world were on the brink of the most profound economic downturn of the twentieth century. That global economic contraction made Roche's competitors the more eager to force her out of the coalfields and made it harder for her to maintain high labor standards. Remarkably, she held on, heralded by progressives as a “prophet of a new and wiser social order.” In the process, she established her place within an emerging political elite that would soon dominate national politics and government. Indeed, her work at RMF was one of many threads tying the Progressive Era to the New Deal.
Vaclav Smil
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195168747
- eISBN:
- 9780199835522
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195168747.003.0006
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
Pre-WWI technical advances have created economies and societies whose abundance of material possessions, rates of energy consumption, and overall tempo of life were entirely unprecedented. Both the ...
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Pre-WWI technical advances have created economies and societies whose abundance of material possessions, rates of energy consumption, and overall tempo of life were entirely unprecedented. Both the fundamental infrastructures of modern life and countless everyday actions rest on enduring artifacts and ubiquitous innovations of the Age of Synergy. Mechanization of virtually all productive tasks led to mass production and both were made possible by steadily rising combustion of fossil fuels and generation of electricity. They brought new economic arrangements (including powerful multinational companies) as well as new forms of leisure.Less
Pre-WWI technical advances have created economies and societies whose abundance of material possessions, rates of energy consumption, and overall tempo of life were entirely unprecedented. Both the fundamental infrastructures of modern life and countless everyday actions rest on enduring artifacts and ubiquitous innovations of the Age of Synergy. Mechanization of virtually all productive tasks led to mass production and both were made possible by steadily rising combustion of fossil fuels and generation of electricity. They brought new economic arrangements (including powerful multinational companies) as well as new forms of leisure.
Robyn Muncy
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691122731
- eISBN:
- 9781400852413
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691122731.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter details events in Josephine Roche's life from 1927–1928. Orphaned and unemployed in 1927, Roche contemplated her future. Her father's lawyers advised her to sell her stock in the Rocky ...
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This chapter details events in Josephine Roche's life from 1927–1928. Orphaned and unemployed in 1927, Roche contemplated her future. Her father's lawyers advised her to sell her stock in the Rocky Mountain Fuel Company and live off the proceeds. She could then follow the conventions of Denver's elite and devote herself to afternoon bridge or fulfill her sense of social responsibility by funding progressive causes. Neither option appealed. In fact, in this midlife moment of decision, Roche defied every sort of convention. In a blazing exhibition of nerve, she amassed enough shares to become the majority stockholder of her father's coal company, kicked out the sitting management, and transformed the mining operation into a progressive enterprise that welcomed organized labor back to the coalfields of Colorado.Less
This chapter details events in Josephine Roche's life from 1927–1928. Orphaned and unemployed in 1927, Roche contemplated her future. Her father's lawyers advised her to sell her stock in the Rocky Mountain Fuel Company and live off the proceeds. She could then follow the conventions of Denver's elite and devote herself to afternoon bridge or fulfill her sense of social responsibility by funding progressive causes. Neither option appealed. In fact, in this midlife moment of decision, Roche defied every sort of convention. In a blazing exhibition of nerve, she amassed enough shares to become the majority stockholder of her father's coal company, kicked out the sitting management, and transformed the mining operation into a progressive enterprise that welcomed organized labor back to the coalfields of Colorado.
Karen Pinkus
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804760324
- eISBN:
- 9780804772877
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804760324.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
How can we account, in a rigorous way, for alchemy's ubiquity? We think of alchemy as the transformation of a base material (usually lead) into gold, but “alchemy” is a word in wide circulation in ...
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How can we account, in a rigorous way, for alchemy's ubiquity? We think of alchemy as the transformation of a base material (usually lead) into gold, but “alchemy” is a word in wide circulation in everyday life, often called upon to fulfill a metaphoric duty as the magical transformation of materials. Almost every culture and time has had some form of alchemy. This book looks at alchemy, not at any one particular instance along the historical timeline, not as a practice or theory, not as a mode of redemption, but as a theoretical problem, linked to real gold and real production in the world. What emerges as the least common denominator or “intensive property” of alchemy is ambivalence, the impossible and paradoxical coexistence of two incompatible elements. The book moves from antiquity, through the golden age of alchemy in the Dutch seventeenth century, to conceptual art, to alternative fuels, stopping to think with writers such as Dante, Goethe, Hoffmann, the Grimm Brothers, George Eliot, and Marx. Eclectic and wide-ranging, it considers alchemy in relation to literary and visual theory in a comprehensive way.Less
How can we account, in a rigorous way, for alchemy's ubiquity? We think of alchemy as the transformation of a base material (usually lead) into gold, but “alchemy” is a word in wide circulation in everyday life, often called upon to fulfill a metaphoric duty as the magical transformation of materials. Almost every culture and time has had some form of alchemy. This book looks at alchemy, not at any one particular instance along the historical timeline, not as a practice or theory, not as a mode of redemption, but as a theoretical problem, linked to real gold and real production in the world. What emerges as the least common denominator or “intensive property” of alchemy is ambivalence, the impossible and paradoxical coexistence of two incompatible elements. The book moves from antiquity, through the golden age of alchemy in the Dutch seventeenth century, to conceptual art, to alternative fuels, stopping to think with writers such as Dante, Goethe, Hoffmann, the Grimm Brothers, George Eliot, and Marx. Eclectic and wide-ranging, it considers alchemy in relation to literary and visual theory in a comprehensive way.
Jane Whittle and Elizabeth Griffiths
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199233533
- eISBN:
- 9780191739330
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199233533.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
Food and other household consumables such as cleaning products and fuel have been neglected in the history of consumption. The Le Strange accounts include kitchen accounts which record the food ...
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Food and other household consumables such as cleaning products and fuel have been neglected in the history of consumption. The Le Strange accounts include kitchen accounts which record the food acquired and consumed on a week-by-week basis. This chapter uses the kitchen accounts to reconstruct the normal diet of the household, before moving on to examine the meanings of food through seasonal variations, comparisons with cookery-book recipes, and the differences between the food eaten by the gentry and their servants. Medicines had much in common with food, falling within women’s sphere in the first instance. But medical care also relied on male specialists and printed literature. Finally the provision of lighting, fuel and cleaning products is examined.Less
Food and other household consumables such as cleaning products and fuel have been neglected in the history of consumption. The Le Strange accounts include kitchen accounts which record the food acquired and consumed on a week-by-week basis. This chapter uses the kitchen accounts to reconstruct the normal diet of the household, before moving on to examine the meanings of food through seasonal variations, comparisons with cookery-book recipes, and the differences between the food eaten by the gentry and their servants. Medicines had much in common with food, falling within women’s sphere in the first instance. But medical care also relied on male specialists and printed literature. Finally the provision of lighting, fuel and cleaning products is examined.
James Hinton
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199243297
- eISBN:
- 9780191714054
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199243297.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
In 1945 most WVS members expected the organization to close down, and when it did not do so, they left. At the same time the national leadership of the established women's organizations which had ...
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In 1945 most WVS members expected the organization to close down, and when it did not do so, they left. At the same time the national leadership of the established women's organizations which had provided much of the local leadership for the WVS since 1938 pressed the Attlee government to put an end to Lady Reading's fiefdom which they regarded as an alien, state-subsidised wartime growth, offensive to principles both of democracy and of voluntarism. How did the WVS survive? This chapter examines attitudes among the WVS membership at the end of the war, and the strategy of ‘mission creep’ employed by Lady Reading to make WVS indispensable to Whitehall by finding new work for tired hands. Her success in persuading the surviving members, many of them Tories, to collaborate with the Labour Government's management of austerity — notably in food education and fuel economy — testifies to the continuing appeal of non-partisanship among middle-class social leaders.Less
In 1945 most WVS members expected the organization to close down, and when it did not do so, they left. At the same time the national leadership of the established women's organizations which had provided much of the local leadership for the WVS since 1938 pressed the Attlee government to put an end to Lady Reading's fiefdom which they regarded as an alien, state-subsidised wartime growth, offensive to principles both of democracy and of voluntarism. How did the WVS survive? This chapter examines attitudes among the WVS membership at the end of the war, and the strategy of ‘mission creep’ employed by Lady Reading to make WVS indispensable to Whitehall by finding new work for tired hands. Her success in persuading the surviving members, many of them Tories, to collaborate with the Labour Government's management of austerity — notably in food education and fuel economy — testifies to the continuing appeal of non-partisanship among middle-class social leaders.
James M. Griffin
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300149852
- eISBN:
- 9780300149869
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300149852.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
Everyone wants energy that is clean, cheap, and secure, goals which often conflict: traditional fossil fuels tend to be cheaper than alternative fuels, but they are hardly clean or (in the case of ...
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Everyone wants energy that is clean, cheap, and secure, goals which often conflict: traditional fossil fuels tend to be cheaper than alternative fuels, but they are hardly clean or (in the case of oil) secure. This book provides an explanation of the issues as well as sensible proposals for a truly sustainable energy policy. The author, an economist, points out that current energy policies are fatally flawed and that government policies should focus on “getting the prices right” so that the prices of fossil fuels reflect their true costs to society—including greenhouse gas and security costs. By using carbon and security taxes, alternative energy forms will be able to compete on a more even playing field against fossil fuels, which will unleash advances in alternative energy and conservation technologies, enabling the marketplace and consumers to find the right balance among energy sources that are cheap, clean, and secure.Less
Everyone wants energy that is clean, cheap, and secure, goals which often conflict: traditional fossil fuels tend to be cheaper than alternative fuels, but they are hardly clean or (in the case of oil) secure. This book provides an explanation of the issues as well as sensible proposals for a truly sustainable energy policy. The author, an economist, points out that current energy policies are fatally flawed and that government policies should focus on “getting the prices right” so that the prices of fossil fuels reflect their true costs to society—including greenhouse gas and security costs. By using carbon and security taxes, alternative energy forms will be able to compete on a more even playing field against fossil fuels, which will unleash advances in alternative energy and conservation technologies, enabling the marketplace and consumers to find the right balance among energy sources that are cheap, clean, and secure.
Thomas Princen, Jack P. Manno, and Pamela L. Martin (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780262028806
- eISBN:
- 9780262327077
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262028806.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
Not so long ago, people North and South had little reason to believe that wealth from oil, gas, and coal brought anything but great prosperity. But the presumption of net benefits from fossil fuels ...
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Not so long ago, people North and South had little reason to believe that wealth from oil, gas, and coal brought anything but great prosperity. But the presumption of net benefits from fossil fuels is eroding as widening circles of people rich and poor experience the downside. A positive transition to a post-fossil fuel era cannot wait for global agreement, a swap-in of renewables, a miracle technology, a carbon market, or lifestyle change. This book shows that it is now possible to take the first step toward the post-fossil fuel era, by resisting the slow violence of extreme extraction and combustion, exiting the industry, and imagining a good life after fossil fuels. It shows how an environmental politics of transition might occur, arguing for going to the source rather than managing byproducts, for delegitimizing fossil fuels rather than accommodating them, for engaging a politics of deliberately choosing a post-fossil fuel world. The book includes several chapters of analyses of the fossil fuel problem from the biophysical, cultural, ethical and political perspectives along with case studies that reveal how individuals, groups, communities, and an entire country have taken first steps out of the fossil fuel era, with experiments that range from leaving oil under the Amazon to ending mountaintop removal in Appalachia.Less
Not so long ago, people North and South had little reason to believe that wealth from oil, gas, and coal brought anything but great prosperity. But the presumption of net benefits from fossil fuels is eroding as widening circles of people rich and poor experience the downside. A positive transition to a post-fossil fuel era cannot wait for global agreement, a swap-in of renewables, a miracle technology, a carbon market, or lifestyle change. This book shows that it is now possible to take the first step toward the post-fossil fuel era, by resisting the slow violence of extreme extraction and combustion, exiting the industry, and imagining a good life after fossil fuels. It shows how an environmental politics of transition might occur, arguing for going to the source rather than managing byproducts, for delegitimizing fossil fuels rather than accommodating them, for engaging a politics of deliberately choosing a post-fossil fuel world. The book includes several chapters of analyses of the fossil fuel problem from the biophysical, cultural, ethical and political perspectives along with case studies that reveal how individuals, groups, communities, and an entire country have taken first steps out of the fossil fuel era, with experiments that range from leaving oil under the Amazon to ending mountaintop removal in Appalachia.
