Beyond carbon

摘要

The whole history of mankind's use of energy is a history of the decarbpnisation of fuels. As societies have grown wealthier, they have been shifting from dirty solid fuels with a high carbon content to liquid hydrocarbon fuels with a lower carbon content, and ultimately to clean-burning gases. This is not part of any green revolution: people the world over have simply used whatever fuels have been readily available, cheap and easy to use, moving from wood and hay to coal and then oil. As energy became easier to use, it paved the way for human development, and made the world a more comfortable place for people to live in.