The
present
article
adopts
a
comparative
perspective
contrasting
the
agricultural
civilization
of
Europe
with
the
agricultural
civilizations
of
other
regions
to
understand
the
reasons
for
Europe’s
transition
to
modern
energy
carriers.
In
Europe—especially
in
the
West
and
North—specific
ecological
conditions
determined
a
stronger
need
for
energy
than
in
other
coeval
agrarian
civilizations.
The
rapid
growth
of
the
European
population
from
the
second
half
of
the
seventeenth
century
onward,
on
the
one
hand,
and
worsening
climatic
conditions,
on
the
other,
determined
an
energy
crisis
and
a
lowering
of
living
standards,
especially
in
the
second
half
of
the
eighteenth
century
and
the
first
two
decades
of
the
nineteenth.
After
1820,
a
shift
to
different,
cheaper
energy
carriers
laid
the
foundation
for
a
new
age
of
growth.
