7 ms·
This is actually not the first major energy transition. The world moved from coal to oil for transport and shipping fairly quickly due to the higher energy den
by bobthepanda 2mo ago
This is actually not the first major energy transition.
The world moved from coal to oil for transport and shipping fairly quickly due to the higher energy density and significantly easier handling of liquid vs solid fuels. Using pipes and tubes was a huge labor savings compared to having people shovel coal into a hard to control boiler.
- SoftTalker 2mo agoAutomatic mechanical stokers replaced people with shovels long ago. Nobody has shoveled coal in a boiler room since the era of the Titanic. Oil is still easier to handle in ships (or really any transport) though.
- rsynnott 2mo agoWere these ever particularly common on steam ships? They were definitely a thing on trains, but I thought they more or less only showed up as the transition to oil fired boilers was getting going anyway.
- bobthepanda 2mo agoEven with mechanical stokers you still needed a dedicated fireman making sure the proper amount of coal was making it in. Nothing like a modern liquid fuel engine where you can just drive yourself without manually adjusting the amount of fuel burn by hand.