Article
ID: CBB001033659

Methanol as Future Fuel: Efforts to Develop Alternative Fuels in Sweden after the Oil Crisis (2010)

unapi
Development of technology; change in technology Technological innovation Fuels and fuel technology Energy resources and technologies 20th century, late Sweden

The 1973 Oil Crisis was a wake-up call for Sweden. Sweden's high reliance on foreign energy supply and the lack of domestic fossil energy sources hit private motoring hard. In the aftermath of the crisis, methanol was seen as a promising alternative fuel. This article analyzes how, who, and for what reasons methanol fuel was promoted in Sweden in the 1970s and early 1980s. Furthermore, the study places the efforts to establish methanol as fuel in an international framework and in the broader context of the Energy Program and the government's objective to plan for a new energy future for Sweden. This article especially examines forecasting motor fuels and automobiles and how foresight was used in relation to the methanol campaign. The article argues that in the case of the Swedish methanol campaign the upcoming development in the energy sector was mostly described as smooth and calculable. Both the state and the industry planned for a post-petroleum era, in which methanol fuel played a vital role. However, they were unwilling to take any decisive step until circumstances were right, but since circumstances never seemed appropriate, methanol as a fuel was always deferred to a distant future.

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Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001033659/

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Authors & Contributors
Renee M. Rottner
Eaglin, Jennifer
Silvia M. Lindtner
Schlögl, Robert
Yang, Chi-Jen
Wink, Rüdiger
Journals
IEEE Annals of the History of Computing
History and Technology
Ziran Kexueshi Yanjiu (Studies in the History of Natural Sciences)
Technology and Culture
Science Technology and Society
Research in the History of Technology
Publishers
Princeton University Press
Praeger Publishers
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
HarperSanFrancisco
Crown Business
Princeton University
Concepts
Technological innovation
Development of technology; change in technology
Energy resources and technologies
Fuels and fuel technology
Electronics
Technology and economics
Time Periods
20th century, late
21st century
Places
United States
Sweden
Great Britain
Shanghai (China)
Japan
China
Institutions
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Large Hadron Collider (LHC)
United States. Department of Energy
European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)
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