An Energy Revolution

I have just finished reading 'Iron, Steam and Money' by Roger Osbourne. It is a scholarly review of the sixty years or so around 1800 when Britain revolutionised the world through a period of tremendous innovation, industrialisation and social change. His last few sentences sum up one of the major themes of the whole book.

"Understanding the Industrial Revolution should at least enable us to appreciate the central role that energy holds in every aspect of modern life. Life before industrialisation was, for most people, a continual struggle to survive; without reliable sources of energy we cannot live secure and comfortable lives. Any answer to the twin problems of global resources and climate change must begin with that stark truth."

This really does hit the nail on the head. Even our current digital and communications revolution relies on energy; be it for running servers to support the enormous amount of data we create every day or the batteries which our mobile devices are completely dependent on. 

The industrial revolution unleashed the power of fossil fuels; the next stage of innovation and change will need to unleash alternative sources of energy and we are already about half way through the sixty years we have to achieve that new energy revolution.