Why did people start using coal as fuel around 1800?

Answer

Dear Vince,

In fact, coal has been used much earlier. The Greeks and Romans were already familiar with the properties of coal, eg that it could be used as fuel. In the course of history it was also used to forge iron and the like. What mainly happened at the end of the eighteenth century was the massive switch to coal as an energy source. This was mainly due to the industrial revolution. Knowledge developed very quickly in the eighteenth century, and together with new technologies, the need for energy rose very strongly. An energy requirement that could no longer be met with wood or charcoal. This steady development also required a greater need for steel and iron and for that you also need a carbon source to obtain it from iron ore. So during that period a strong pressure arose to switch to another energy source that did not depend on the availability of forests. While charcoal used to be used to make iron ore, it was discovered that coal could be converted by heating in the absence of oxygen into coke that contains at least as much carbon as charcoal. This also makes it possible to produce much more/more efficient steel. This switch created the conditions for the incredible development of science and technology that we know even to this day.

Regards,