Energy in a Globalised World - Energy and Climate: How to Achieve a Successful Energy Transition - page 1

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Energy in a Globalised World
The fundamental role of energy in the economy
Energy is omnipresent in the economy and plays a fundamental role in all
fields of activity, whether it is in industry, the residential and tertiary
sectors or transport 1 .
The development of coal accompanied the discovery of the steam engine,
leading to the first industrial revolution in the eighteenth century. The use of
coal, followed by other fossil energies (oil, natural gas) to drive machines,
allowed the incredible development of industry, up to the present time.
The industrial revolution was also marked by the spectacular develop-
ment of transport. The use of the steam engine to drive trains and ships
resulted, from the start of the industrial era, in the creation of rail and
sea networks across the globe. At the start of the twentieth century,
plentiful supplies of oil, easy to store in liquid form and relatively cheap,
sparked the rapid growth of road and air transport.
Energy also caters for heating and air-conditioning requirements. It is
essential to operate all household, office (computers) and communication
(media, telephone, internet) equipment. Industry is totally reliant on it.
Without this continuous supply of energy, society would grind to a stand-
still and, in this respect, our modern economies are particularly vulnerable.
The world economy demands increasing quantities of fossil fuels to
meet its energy requirements. The development of road and air transport,
directly related to oil consumption, is the most flagrant illustration. The
1 Some notes concerning the units used and the physics involved are provided in Appendix 1.