Lessons from a forgotten fuel: assessing the long history of alcohol fuel advocacy and use in the United States (2021)
Manuel, Jeffrey T. (Author)
History and Technology
Volume: 37
Issue: 4
Pages: 411-428
Edition Details: Issue Theme: Historicizing renewables
Language: English
Debates over biofuels in the twenty-first century rarely consider the long history of producing and consuming biofuels. This article assesses that long history of biofuels in the United States. First, the article periodizes a century and a half of biofuels into six distinct eras: (1) the camphene era (1830s-1860s) when alcohol was used for illumination, (2) the early automobile era (1900–1920) when alcohol was pitted against gasoline in internal combustion engines, (3) the rural development era (1920s-1930s) when alcohol fuels were promoted to help farmers, (4) the energy crisis era (1970s-1980s) when alcohol fuels extended tight fuel supplies, (5) the environmentalism era (1990s-2001) when alcohol fuels were promoted as cleaner than gasoline, and (6) the energy security era (2001-present) when alcohol fuels were used to achieve energy security. Second, the article argues that biofuels’ history illustrates broader themes in the history (and likely future) of renewable energy.
...MoreArticle Ute Hasenöhrl; Patrick Kupper (2021) Historicizing renewables: Issues and challenges. History and Technology (pp. 397-410).
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