The transformation of the organic energy system: the Swedish perspective

Abstract

KEYWORDS: organic energy system, energy history, Sweden, firewood.JEL CODES: N00, N53, N72, N73.T his article discusses the historical conversion of the Swedish organic energy system into a mineral one. The main argument is that there was a dynamic interaction between the two systems during the Swedish industrialization process. For one, growth of the mineral energy system contributed to open previously inaccessible organic resources in the forests of northern Sweden. Secondly, the development of the pulp and paper industry contributed to the switch from charcoal to coke in the iron manufacturing industry. Thirdly, the development of hydropower, itself an organic source of energy, further contributed to the emergence of a mixed energy system. One can therefore perceive the Swedish transition from an organic to a mineral energy system as a shift from a traditional organic energy system to an industrialized one, that is, an organic energy system dependent on the technologies and organizational structures of the mineral energy system in order to function.

Firewood consumption and energy transition: a survey of sources, methods and explanations in Europe and North America

“…Denmark included woodfuel consumption in its industrial censuses from the 1910s (Danmarks Statistik, 1959), whilst Portugal's industrial statistics of 1943, 1948, 1953 and 1958 give partial coverage (Henriques, 2011), as do Spain's from 1958 (INE, 1960-80). Often such surveys focused on supplies to industry, even though it typically had little more than a tenth of the market share in countries where we have data, with the relative inefficiency of wood-burning furnaces and costs of supply militating against the development of large-scale heavier industries in the absence of fossil fuels (see though Lindmark & Olsson-Spjut, 2019). 1920s Brazil may have been a twentieth-century exception where it rose as high as a quarter, if we include the extensive use by railways (Brannstrom, 2005: 412) 3 .…”

“…Given this we might hypothesise that the appearance of high-quality tools, and especially power equipment, reduced this cost and actually increased levels of use as we come closer to the present, contrary to common assumptions based on efficiency of heating equipment meaning consumption was higher the further back we go in time. Lindmark noted that the rising price of labour increased charcoal costs (a relatively labour-intense fuel) in Sweden from 1890s and made coal relatively cheaper (Lindmark & Olsson-Spjut, 2019). Given the large amounts of labour-time required for wood felling and chopping, any rise in off-farm wages or opportunity for more continuous agricultural labour would have made self-supply of fuel less attractive.…”