Economic History of the European Energy Industry

Global climate change and the war in Ukraine have put energy back on the agenda for Europe in a way that has not been seen since the oil crisis of the 1970s. This book explores changes in energy markets, strategies, firms and investments during the 19th and 20th centuries.

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Global climate change and the war in Ukraine have put energy back on the agenda for Europe in a way that has not been seen since the oil crisis of the 1970s. But the economics and business of supplying energy to Europe has a long and rich history going back to the nineteenth century. This book explores changes in energy markets, strategies, firms and investments during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The primary focus is on manufactured gas—the gas that was initially produced from coal distillation until new ways of manufacturing gas emerged after the Second World War.

The expert contributors to this volume draw on their extensive research and utilise primary sources to explore a wide range of issues, including technological adaptation, market regulation, energy investments (particularly the role of foreign capital), gas consumption and supply issues. The case studies are particularly drawn from Spain, France and Italy, but the authors provide a comparative and global perspective to consider the wider context. The volume closes with an epilogue that brings the story into the present day to consider current issues affecting gas markets in the EU, including war, geostrategy and pipelines.

This book will be of interest to readers in economic history, business history, energy history, the history of public utilities and modern European history more broadly.