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From Shafts to Wires: Historical Perspective on Electrification

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2009

Warren D. Devine Jr
Warren D. Devine Jr
Affiliation:
Institute for Energy Analysis, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830.
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Abstract

The shift from steam to electric power in manufacturing is recounted. Between 1880 and 1930 the production and distribution of mechanical power rapidly evolved from water and steam prime movers with shaft and belt drive systems to electric motors that drove individual machines. The use of electricity reduced the energy required to drive machinery, but more important, enabled industry to obtain greater output per unit of capital and labor input.Reduced energy needs and increased productivity in manufacturing influenced the relationship between energy consumption and gross national product in the first three decades of the twentieth century.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 43 , Issue 2 , June 1983 , pp. 347 - 372
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 1983

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