Description
Book SynopsisA history of the excesses of capitalism's rampant fossil fuel consumption since 1950.
Trade Review'An extraordinarily ambitious, but arguably necessary task for our times'
-- Paul Warde, Faculty of History, University of Cambridge
'Insightful, precise and well-written, Burning Up turns energy consumption on its head. Pirani fills a crucial gap left by a mountain of shiny but vacuous reports and not enough solid history ... Anybody fighting climate change should read this' -- Mika Minio-Paluello, campaigner at Platform London and co-author of The Oil Road: journeys from the Caspian Sea to the City of London (Verso, 2013)
'This meticulous depiction of how fossil fuels are woven into our human systems - not only technological but also economic, social and political - is an invaluable aid to getting them back under control' -- Walt Patterson, author of Electricity vs Fire (2015)
'Explains the technological, social and economic processes that have prioritised a particular way of satisfying society's demand for energy services' -- Michael Bradshaw, Professor of Global Energy, Warwick Business School, UK, author of Global Energy Dilemmas (2013)
'Burning Up is a vital contribution to the climate movement. A first step to organizing around its insights will be to ensure it is widely read in the movement, and by those whose lives will be affected by climate change' -- Climate and Capitalism
'Recommended' -- CHOICE
'This comprehensive book provides a modern history of global fossil fuel consumption. Authoritative and well researched, it provides a solid bedrock to understand the ins and outs of fuels'
-- Bright Green
'An essential tool for understanding fossil fuel consumption in terms of the vested interests who have benefited from it'
-- Ann Pettifor, Guardian
Table of ContentsFigures
Tables
Acknowledgements
Units of Measurement
Acronyms and Abbreviations
Introduction
Part I: Contexts
1. Fossil Fuels Before 1950
2. Energy Technologies
3. Energy in Society
4. Fossil Fuel Consumption in Numbers
Part II: Chronologies
5. The 1950s and 1960s: Post-War Boom
6. The 1970s: Crises and Oil Price Shocks
7. Patterns of Electrification
8. The 1980s: Recession and Recovery
9. The 1990s: Shunning the Global Warming Challenge
10. The 2000s: Acceleration Renewed
Part III: Reflections
11. Interpretations and Ideologies
12. Possibilities
13. Conclusions
Appendices
Notes
Further Reading and Bibliography
Index
