Lessons from our coal past

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About the research

Since we chose coal en masse at the end of the 18th century, we have never moved away from fossil energy. Why did we ever take that step? To find out, Wout Saelens (UAntwerpen - VUB) dives into the past. Via inventories, he studies the contents - think hearths, stoves, and cookers - of 18th-century houses. "Coal became the symbol of comfort for the bourgeoisie. Rapidly increasing air pollution was only an outdoor problem. What counted was cozy warmth at home."

History
Wout Saelens
UAntwerpen - VUB

The ecological crisis of today does not come falling from the sky. It haunts us living as a nightmare from the past. To free ourselves from that nightmare, we must look her straight in the eye. As a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Antwerp and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Wout Saelens studies the history of fossil energy, air pollution and environmental inequality in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In doing so, he wants to uncover the history of our worst nightmare in the twenty-first century: climate change.

Contact Wout

https://www.uantwerpen.be/nl/personeel/wout-saelens/

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