Heat, Power And Light: Revolutions In Energy Services

Description:
What happens when a radically-new fuel or technology transforms the energy system? How does the energy system evolve at different stages of economic development? What are the implications for people's lives and their environment? Building on an award-winning article, in this exciting book Roger Fouquet investigates the impacts of technological innovations and economic development over the last thousand years on our ability to provide heat, power, transport and light.Using a unique data set, collected over a decade, the analysis identifies the forces driving revolutions in energy services. It highlights the tendency of markets to produce ever-cheaper energy services, which in turn incite greater energy consumption. It also examines how these revolutions affect people's well-being and the environment. The framework, analysis and insights in this book offer an original perspective on future energy markets, transitions to low-carbon economies and strategies for addressing climate change. 'Heat, Power and Light' is an invaluable and unique contribution to this profoundly important topic. As such it will appeal to a wide audience of energy economists, climate change analysts, policymakers, economic and technology historians and economists more broadly.

Review:
'This book is the product of an enormous amount of research into basic price, cost and consumption data for energy services going back many centuries. Roger Fouquet has produced a unique source book of statistical information on energy and energy services that will be of great value to energy economists, to energy researchers and, more generally, to economic historians.'- Colin Robinson, University of Surrey, UK'... a monumental work of policy-relevant scholarship with magisterial judgments that is a must for anyone interested in energy issues or climate change. The seven-century historical perspective and the focus on energy services provide a depth of understanding that cannot be found anywhere else.'- Denny Ellerman, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US'Heat, Power and Light represents the output from a very ambitious and successful project. The collection and construction of UK historical energy data will provide an important resource for energy economics researchers for many years to come and, moreover, the analysis should be the foundation of a great deal of future economic analysis of UK energy data. The author is to be applauded.'- Lester C. Hunt, University of Surrey, UK and editor of The Energy Journal

Table of Contents:
Contents: Preface Part I: Introduction 1. The Past, Present and Future of Energy Services 2. Energy Demand, Technological Change and Economic Development 3. Historical Data and Methods Part II: The Past 4. Heating 5. Stationary Power 6. Transport 7. Lighting Part III: Analysis 8. Producing Cheaper Services 9. Consuming More Services 10. External Costs of Cheaper and More Services 11. Policies Influencing Trends in Energy Services Part IV: The Future 12. Future Trends 13. Policy Discussion Related to Long-Run Energy Services 14. Conclusion References Appendix Index