Globalization Is Fundamentally an Energy System
When people talk about globalization, they often focus on trade agreements, financial markets, and economic policy. Yet globalization is fundamentally an energy system.
The container ships that move goods across oceans burn vast quantities of heavy fuel oil. Aviation networks rely on jet fuel to transport people and high-value cargo. Trucking fleets powered by diesel engines carry goods from ports to warehouses and finally to retail shelves.
Every product inside a supermarket, every device on a desk, and every component inside a data center has traveled through an energy-intensive industrial chain before reaching the consumer.
Even the digital world—often perceived as intangible—rests on enormous energy infrastructure. Data centers consume vast quantities of electricity. Fiber-optic networks require mining, manufacturing, and installation. The servers that power the internet must run continuously, drawing electricity generated from a mixture of energy sources that still include fossil fuels.
Technology did not eliminate humanity’s dependence on energy. It multiplied it.
