Freakonomics Radio: 643. Why Do Candles Still Exist?
Source: share.snipd.com
I really enjoyed this Freakonomics Radio episode which started out exploring why candles still exist, but then side tracked into explorations of obsolence, energy demand, and human nature.
The biggest example that people discuss when they discuss obsolescence in energy infrastructure is whale oil. People say, you know, fossil fuels came around and they saved the whales. This has become such a strong talking point for thinking about energy transition to say that renewable energies could come around and replace fossil fuels. But when you actually look at the history of whale oil, you see that we start using oil in the mid-19th century. Fossil fuels become more and more pervasive into the 20th, 21st century. And whale oil, the killing of the whales actually intensified the most in the 1960s. The introduction of fossil fuels actually led to the killing of more whales. Why was it? Because fossil fuel powered ships could go around the world and kill whales in a much more effective way.