Between Wood and Coal. Peat as an Energy Resource in 19th Century Germany.
The project aims to contribute to energy history at the intersection of environmental history, history of technology and economic history. While the energy transition from a solar to fossil energy-based - agrarian to industrial society based on coal - is broadly known, research is currently taking a closer look at traditional, regional and small-scale energy resources and uses that nevertheless formed an essential part of the historical energy mix. Against this backdrop, the research project examines the use of peat as a fuel in 19th-century Germany.
The use of peat in households, industry and trade, as well as in the railways bridged the fuel gap in various regions in the north, east and south of Germany, which had no coal deposits of their own. It temporarily satisfied demand for energy that wood could no longer and coal had yet to meet economically. Peat extraction opened up opportunities for regional industrialization and urbanization and, at the same time, set limits since this energy source could not compete with hard coal or lignite in the long term.
This research project aims to draw attention to a hitherto largely overlooked energy source and investigate its significance throughout Germany for the first time. The overarching thesis is that peat represents a fuel of insufficiently examined significance to the 19th-century history of energy. The history of peat can demonstrate the complexity of energy history, including its regional varieties, in the transition from a solar energy-based to a fossil energy regime. In addition, the research project is intended to deepen knowledge and raise awareness of peat use, as peat soils are currently assuming new importance in climate policy as CO2 reservoirs.