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Research
Project |
| First drawn in 2002,
the research project on the history of energy and electricity
has been able to rely on both the long experience and superior
knowledge of eleven investigators of different research areas
(History, Sociology and Economics) whose precious support and
cooperation have proven to be of great importance to its success.
The main purpose of this project is to come up with some innovative
studies and analysis on the evolution of society and State in
general and of companies in particular. However, its utmost
aim goes far beyond that: its final goal is to implement an
interactive and brand new way of making History by encouraging
the creation of bonds and relationships between experts and
non-experts and between those who wrote the annals of History
and those who are now trying to understand that History. |
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 Highlights |
Last
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The Nuclear Energy Board (JEN – Junta de Energia Nuclear) (1950-1961) |
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ABSTRACT: In the mid-twentieth century, the Portuguese political power considered that it would be defensible to invest in the development of nuclear energy research projects for the purpose of reducing energy dependency and providing suitable conditions to make the most of all the possible applications nuclear sciences and techniques had to offer in vast fields such as Health, Agriculture, Industry and other sectors; hence the reasonable consequence of that political option: the creation of an organization capable of superintending all aspects of nuclear energy.
The next step was to provide for the conduction of studies on nuclear energy in our country, in a systematic, organized manner. Under the wise, persistent impulse given by Professor Leite Pinto, initiatives were implemented, which culminated in the creation of the Nuclear Energy Board (JEN) and the Nuclear Energy Research Committee of the Institute of High Culture (1954).
The creation of the Nuclear Energy Board (JEN) marked the successful culmination of the Government’s long consciousness-raising process towards the nuclear potential Portugal had to offer, in view of the promises emergent sciences and techniques were making. |
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Alcohol as fuel: a utopia of the early 20th Century |
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Abstract: In the early years of the 20th Century, devil tar and black coal symbolized the dependence Portugal was living on as far as energy was concerned. In view of that scenario, the advocates of white coal stepped forward, joining the cause for the production of electricity to fight against that dependence, and came up with a new bio-fuel alternative, somewhat ahead of its time: alcohol. Click on the title to see the entire page |
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The CRGE and private lighting |
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Abstract: In the thirties, the CRGE dedicated themselves to boosting consumption in their fields of activity. Domestic and commercial lighting was one of the areas most closely followed by their promotion. This effort of propaganda was accompanied by several campaigns from bulb production companies and the Comissão Luminotécnica Portuguesa. Keywords: advertisement, postcard, illumination, commerce, CRGE. To see the entire page click on the title. |
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BOOK OF THE MONTH: Thomas Hughes, AMERICAN GENESIS: A CENTURY OF INVENTION AND TECHNOLOGICAL ENTHUSIASM 1870 – 1970. Reviewed by Elvira Callapez. |
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Thomas P. Hughes, Networks of Power. Electrification in Western Society 1880-1930. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, (1983) 1993, 3rd Edition. Review by Nuno Luís Madureira. |
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Jaime Oliveira and Eduardo Martinho, Nuclear Energy. Myths and Reality, Lisbon, O Mirante, 2000. Review by Carlos Furtado. |
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Ana Cardoso de Matos (coord.), Fátima Mendes, Fernando Faria – O Porto e a Electricidade. Lisbon: Museum of Electricity, 2003. |
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The electrical network in Portugal (1918-1975) |
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José Manuel Lopes Cordeiro, Eastern Valley Electrical Cooperative: seven decades of rural electrification (1930-2001). |
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Electricity and electrical appliances |
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Jaime Ferreira e João Figueira, (2001), Electrifying the centre of Portugal in the Twentieth Century. |
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Kander, Astrid (2000), Economic Growth, energy consumption and CO2 emissions in Sweden 1800-2000, Lund Studies in Economic History, 19. |
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Bernard Bougeois, Dominique Finon, Jean-Marie Martin, (2000), Énergie et changement technologique: une aproche évolutioniste |
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