Alan Aubut is a retired geologist, based in Nipigon.I recently spoke with Dan Sutton, CEO of Syntholene Energy Corp. He had read my earlier article Oil Is Not What You Think It Is and reached out right away. Our conversation showed me how synthetic fuels fit into the long history of energy and how each shift in energy technology has changed the world in ways most people never notice.His company is working on synthetic kerosene, the type of fuel modern aircraft use. The work is still early, but the potential is real. Because synthetic fuel contains no sulphur or other contaminants, it has a higher energy density than kerosene refined from petroleum. It behaves the same way synthetic motor oil does in cold weather: cleaner, more stable, and better performing. Canadians understand why that matters.Our discussion then moved into the long story of how new energy sources have shaped civilization. When petroleum became widely available, whale oil collapsed almost immediately. At the time, whales were being hunted so aggressively that many species were close to extinction. Cheap and abundant kerosene replaced whale oil and saved those species just in time. It also made it possible for poverty to fall at a pace never seen before.Almost four years ago, I wrote about this and referred to Martin Ravallion’s book The Economics of Poverty. Around the year 1800, roughly 80% of the world lived in poverty. Today, that number is under 20%. This dramatic shift was not an accident. It came from the arrival of the Industrial Revolution, which itself was powered by inexpensive, portable energy. Oil lubricated machines, fuelled engines, and made it possible to run large factories. Capitalism allowed buyers and sellers to meet in open and competitive markets, which meant prices reflected real supply and demand. As goods became cheaper, more people could buy them. Workers earned wages, spent those wages, and helped expand the entire economy. The cycle of growth fed on itself because energy was affordable..Wood was the first widely used portable fuel, but it has a low energy density. As the chart shows, green wood provides only about 2.5 kWh per kilogram, and even dry wood gives just 4.4. Coal, especially coking coal, contains far more energy per kilogram, which is why it replaced wood so quickly once mining methods improved. Coal was easier to transport, cheaper to produce, and delivered over twice the usable energy of wood. That jump in energy density helped launch the Industrial Revolution and made large-scale industry possible.Cheap energy was the foundation. England had large and accessible coal deposits. New steelmaking methods reduced the cost of fuel even further. Coal replaced wood for heat, which helped poorer families stay warm and healthy enough to work. Coal gas, once a dangerous waste product in mines, became a new energy source when people learned to capture it. City streets lit by coal gas allowed businesses to stay open after dark. All of this came from finding ways to lower the cost of energy.The pattern is clear. Human progress speeds up when energy becomes cheaper, easier to move, and more concentrated. Wood stores little energy per kilogram. Coal stores more. Petroleum stores even more and is far easier to transport because it is a liquid. That single advantage transformed transportation, manufacturing, and daily life. Liquids do not require the bulky storage that coal does, and they do not lose their volume through breaking or crushing. When large oil fields were discovered, civilization leapt ahead again.The decline in poverty over the last two centuries reflects this shift. People whom we call “poor” today commonly own vehicles, televisions, and mobile phones. These were once luxuries available only to the wealthy. This change happened because energy became cheaper and more abundant..Today we are experiencing the first major reversal of that trend. Policies pushed from the left side of the political spectrum, both in Canada and elsewhere, are raising the price of energy. Higher fuel costs increase transportation costs. Higher transportation costs raise the price of imported food. Heating costs rise. Manufacturing becomes more expensive and less competitive, which reduces jobs. As jobs decline, opportunity declines. Poverty begins to rise again.Governments are also pressuring people to replace low-cost vehicles with electric vehicles that many cannot afford. This may suit the wealthy, but it harms those who live paycheque to paycheque. It forces people into choices they cannot realistically make. This is not progress. It is a step backward that erases the conditions which lifted billions of people out of poverty.For the first time in two hundred years, we are on a course that could undo everything gained from cheap and accessible energy. If this continues, poverty will increase. There is no other possible outcome.The core issue is not energy. It is government. When a government grows beyond its proper limits, it weighs down the entire economy. When it becomes Hobbesian in nature, meaning a state that exists mainly to preserve its own power and expects citizens to obey without question, it begins to govern for itself rather than for the people it serves. In that kind of system, the public becomes secondary. A society cannot thrive if drained by the institutions meant to protect it. A host cannot survive if its own protector becomes a parasite.The answer is simple and peaceful. Elect leaders who serve citizens instead of ideology and who understand the critical role that affordable energy plays in national prosperity. The alternative is the kind of upheaval seen in the past, which no reasonable person supports. The better path is renewal through informed democratic choice, rooted in facts rather than fear.Alan Aubut is a retired geologist, based in Nipigon.
