However, ‘no water scarcity loomed on the horizon … not even in central cotton districts. Malm contends that in numerous Malthusian-informed historical analyses water scarcity is seen as main factor for steam’s final success. The cotton wheel – the centrepiece of British rampant industrialisation – was set in motion by two serious competing prime movers: Steam engines versus water wheels. How come steam power made the race to become the most utilized source of energy at a time when waterpower was very competitive? Steam ‘gained supremacy in spite of water being abundant, cheaper and at least as powerful, even and efficient’ (93, emphasis in original). Fossil fuels once plugged into a capitalist economy puts growing pressure on the self-sustaining conditions that make life on earth possible. Malm defines the fossil economy as ‘an economy of self-sustaining growth predicated on the growing consumption of fossil fuels, and therefore generating a sustained growth in emission in carbon dioxide’ (11). Nevertheless, Fossil Capital makes numerous contributions to climate change debates that concern both the origins of man-made climate change as well as contemporary fossil use. It is also a bold book, as Malm engages with a well-researched historical period. His insight and rigour are likely to set a new standard in climate change debates. Andreas Malm has written an incredibly ambitious book on the roots of climate change in mid-ninetieth century Britain.
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