> Much of the world doesn't have their own fossil fuels they can rely on
For some reason this thought reminded me of the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age.
Iron failed to displace bronze during the Bronze Age for two reasons:
1. It is technologically difficult to make.
2. It is mostly an inferior material.
(Steel is a lot better than bronze, but that wasn't an option.)
But the Bronze Age ended in a near-total collapse of the social order across most of Eurasia. International trade routes dried up. And iron was readily available everywhere in the world, whereas bronze was not even available to regions that mined their own copper, because they didn't have any tin.
Interestingly enough, having your own local supplies of food and energy protects you from suddenly starving and freezing if a war should break out, but it makes everyone else a lot less safe from you, because now you're insulated from the consequences of war.
For some reason this thought reminded me of the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age.
Iron failed to displace bronze during the Bronze Age for two reasons:
1. It is technologically difficult to make.
2. It is mostly an inferior material.
(Steel is a lot better than bronze, but that wasn't an option.)
But the Bronze Age ended in a near-total collapse of the social order across most of Eurasia. International trade routes dried up. And iron was readily available everywhere in the world, whereas bronze was not even available to regions that mined their own copper, because they didn't have any tin.
Interestingly enough, having your own local supplies of food and energy protects you from suddenly starving and freezing if a war should break out, but it makes everyone else a lot less safe from you, because now you're insulated from the consequences of war.