Naege Paul

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The CO2 emissions have a history, still little known. But this story is closely linked to the increasingly massive use of coal as a fuel. Contrary to general opinion, this use of coal began earlier, in England, than the Industrial Revolution, conventionally dated around 1750-1760. The purpose of this article is to remember, after English historians, the history of the substitution of wood by coal, which became therefore universal fuel. That acted an early energy transition, seen only much later, but whose consequences are now obvious. The choice, made from the beginning of the 15th century of coal by the English, led the world into an economic model that will be difficult to change.