Managing Scarcity

A blog about the oil industry, alternative energy & the resource scarcity debate of the “long 1970s.”

Managing Scarcity and Sustainability is a project based at Maastricht University and funded by the NWO (Dutch Research Council) under the Social Sciences and Humanities Vici beurs, VI.C.191.067.

NEW: October 20-21, 2025, we will hold a Workshop on Alternative Energy Histories to showcase our research and that of other scholars interested in the entangled histories of oil, alternative energy, and forecasting. Many thanks to everyone who submitted an abstract. We have selected the papers and are in the process of contacting the presenters. You can find a draft program of the workshop here.

Three forms of energy used to provide electricity (coal, solar, and wind – with the cooling tower of a coal-fired power plant gesturing to nuclear energy as well) visible from a colliery in Germany’s Ruhrgebiet. Photo by Cyrus Mody.