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The Danish Agricultural Revolution in an Energy Perspective: A Case of Development with Few Domestic Energy Sources

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  • Henriques, Sofia Teives

    (University of Southern Denmark)

  • Sharp, Paul

    (University of Southern Denmark)

Abstract

We examine the case of Denmark - a country which historically had next to no domestic energy resources - for which we present new historical energy accounts for the years 1800-1913. We demonstrate that Denmark’s take off at the end of the nineteenth century was relatively energy dependent. We relate this to her well-known agricultural transformation and development through the dairy industry, and thus complement the literature which argues that expensive energy hindered industrialization, by arguing that similar obstacles would have precluded other countries from a more agriculture-based growth. The Danish cooperative creameries, which spread throughout the country over the last two decades of the nineteenth century, were dependent on coal. Although Denmark had next to no domestic coal deposits, we demonstrate that her geography allowed cheap availability throughout the country through imports. On top of this we emphasize that another important source of energy was imported feed for the cows.

Suggested Citation

  • Henriques, Sofia Teives & Sharp, Paul, 2015. "The Danish Agricultural Revolution in an Energy Perspective: A Case of Development with Few Domestic Energy Sources," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 217, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
  • Handle: RePEc:cge:wacage:217
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    Cited by:

    1. Sofia Teives Henriques & Paul Sharp, 2021. "Without coal in the age of steam and dams in the age of electricity: an explanation for the failure of Portugal to industrialize before the Second World War," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 25(1), pages 85-105.
    2. Markus Lampe & Paul Sharp, 2024. "Of the bovine ilk: Quantifying the welfare of dairy cattle in history, 1750-1900," Working Papers 0257, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    3. Markus Lampe & Paul Sharp, 2015. "Just add milk: a productivity analysis of the revolutionary changes in nineteenth-century Danish dairying," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 68(4), pages 1132-1153, November.
    4. Rubio-Varas, Mar & Muñoz-Delgado, Beatriz, 2017. "200 years diversifying the energy mix? Diversification paths of the energy baskets of European early comers vs. latecomers," Working Papers in Economic History 2017/01, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain), Department of Economic Analysis (Economic Theory and Economic History).
    5. Wouter Ryckbosch & Wout Saelens, 2023. "Fuelling the urban economy: A comparative study of energy in the Low Countries, 1600–1850," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(1), pages 221-256, February.
    6. Sofia Teives Henriques & Paul Sharp & Xanthi Tsoukli & Christian Vedel, 2021. "Resilience, Adaptability and Transformability:Danish Butter Factories in the Face of Coal Shortages," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 598, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    7. Bentzen, Jeanet & Boberg-Fazlic, Nina & Sharp, Paul & Volmar Skovsgaard, Christian & Vedel, Christian, 2023. "Holy Cows and Spilt Milk: The Impact of Religious Conflict on Firm-Level Productivity," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 696, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    8. Kander, Astrid & Warde, Paul & Teives Henriques, Sofia & Nielsen, Hana & Kulionis, Viktoras & Hagen, Sven, 2017. "International Trade and Energy Intensity During European Industrialization, 1870–1935," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 33-44.
    9. Kristin Ranestad & Paul Sharp, 2023. "Success through failure? Four centuries of searching for Danish coal," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 65(8), pages 1341-1365, November.
    10. Henriques, Sofia Teives & Borowiecki, Karol Jan, 2014. "The Drivers of Long-run CO2 Emissions: A Global Perspective since 1800," Discussion Papers on Economics 13/2014, University of Southern Denmark, Department of Economics.
    11. Gozgor, Giray & Paramati, Sudharshan Reddy, 2022. "Does energy diversification cause an economic slowdown? Evidence from a newly constructed energy diversification index," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    12. Henriques, Sofia Teives & Borowiecki, Karol J., 2017. "The drivers of long-run CO2 emissions in Europe, North America and Japan since 1800," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 537-549.
    13. Nielsen, Hana, 2021. "Coal and Sugar: The Black and White Gold of Czech Industrialization (1841-1863)," Lund Papers in Economic History 229, Lund University, Department of Economic History.
    14. Eoin McLaughlin & Paul Sharp & Xanthi Tsoukli & Christian Vedel, 2021. "Ireland in a Danish mirror: A microlevel comparison of the productivity of Danish and Irish creameries before the First World War," Working Papers 0219, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    15. Paul Warde & Astrid Kander & Sofia Teives Henriques & Hana Nielsen & Viktoras Kulionis, 2016. "International trade and the energy intensity in Europe, 1870-1935," Working Papers 16026, Economic History Society.
    16. Rubio-Varas, Mar & Muñoz-Delgado, Beatriz, 2019. "Long-term diversification paths and energy transitions in Europe," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 158-168.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Coal; Denmark; energy transition; agriculture;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N5 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries
    • Q4 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy

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