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One of the things that really stands out is just how much wood goes into every gram of iron he extracted. That charcoal pile was huge and it was only enough fo
by jandrese 4y ago
One of the things that really stands out is just how much wood goes into every gram of iron he extracted. That charcoal pile was huge and it was only enough for a dozen or so BB sized chunks of iron. The limitation on the availability of iron in primitive times seems mostly limited by the size of the nearby forest and how good you are at converting them into charcoal.
- CydeWeys 4y agoThis is indeed true, and Bret Devereaux has written about it extensively on ACOUP: https://acoup.blog/2020/09/25/collections-iron-how-did-they-make-it-part-ii-trees-for-blooms/ https://acoup.blog/2020/09/25/collections-iron-how-did-they-...
- bertil 4y agoThe same observation is likely true for a lot of carbon-intensive goods. I’ve read how much carbon goes into a kilo of beef, but I’ve never seen a graphic representation.
- netman21 4y agoWhy England was deforested.
- Bayart 4y agoAgriculture is probably more of a factor.
- origin_path 4y agoMix of agriculture and firewood.