The First Great Energy Transition: How Humanity Gave Up Whaling

11 Mar 2023 | Abstracted from The Guardian

"As demand for blubber soared, whales became rarer. Edwin Drake was hunting for a solution when he discovered oil on a little farm in Titusville, Pennsylvania [in] 1859. This could have marked the end of whaling: the thirst for oil at sea could be quenched on land...As Drake worked on his drilling rigs, Norwegian whaler Svend Foyn developed a cannon to hunt the blue whale...New chemical processes allowed whale blubber to be used to make everything from margarine to paints, fertiliser and pet food."

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