Major Development Blocks in the Twentieth Century and Their Impacts on Energy
Major Development Blocks in the Twentieth Century and Their Impacts on Energy
This chapter examines the impact of major development blocks on the diffusion of new energy carriers and energy consumption in twentieth-century Europe. The focus is on the drivers of energy transitions and economic energy efficiency. The second and third industrial revolutions were each distinguished by major development blocks in the fields of energy and communication. In the second industrial revolution, starting around 1870, there were two main development blocks: one centered on the internal combustion engine and oil use (the ICE-Oil block) and another one centered on electricity (the Electricity block). In the third industrial revolution, which took off from the mid-1970s, the development block around information and communication technology (the ICT block) becomes dominant, with the transistor as its macro-innovation. The chapter discusses the functioning of the core macro-innovation of each development block as well as its diffusion in society using the concepts of market suction and market widening.
Keywords: development blocks, energy consumption, Europe, internal combustion engine, oil, electricity, information technology, macro-innovation, market suction, market widening
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