Fossil capital : the rise of steam power and the roots of global warming How capitalism first promoted fossil fuels with the rise of steam power The more we debate about the catastrophic implications of climate change the more fossil fuels we continue to burn. How did we get caught up in this mess In this masterful new history Malm claims that it all began in Britain with the rise of steam power. So why did manufacturers turn from traditional fuels notably water to steam Overturning established theories of the transition and offering a radically new view of our warming world this study shows how steam was adopted as a superior source of power. Two centuries later the inheritors of that power continue to profit from business as usual as the world heads toward irreversible catastrophe. Malm examines the history of resistance to fossil fuels and surveys the obstacles to the transition to renewable energy so urgently needed today. Then as now energy choices are determined in struggles over power.