[i_am_proteus]

Making steel is how we got here. Europe was decimating her forests for charcoal. England ran out first, then turned to coal, then needed to pump water out of coal mines...

[lindseymysse]

Thanks for that history. Alas, no such thing as a free lunch.

[i_am_proteus]

Lunch has never been free.

Good reads, if this area interests you, are Fernand Braudel Civilization and Capitalism Vol 1: The Structures of Everyday Life and Vaclav Smil Energy and Civilization: A History.