Coal During The Industrial Revolution Essay

During the Industrial Revolution, coal mining expanded significantly, which led to coal being the primary source of energy today. Even as coal industries flourished and the economy boomed, the corporations were corrupt. This led to new inventions and discoveries of renewable energy. Nicholas Wood, the primary leader in coal mining engineering and safety, inspired many drastic changes of the unsettling coal mining industry. After he researched alternatives to coal, people explored new ways to obtain energy without the negative impacts coal had. Scientist Amory Lovins discovered the first solar cell. These significant changes, shifting from coal to solar energy will continue to have a widespread effect on people and economies throughout the world. Although mining coal as a source of energy was a thriving business, numerous problems, including safety, were serious issues. Mining for coal was a tedious process and the benefits were slim. In the mines, …show more content…
In many corporations "Owners could keep costs low by claiming the coal was of a poor quality or rigging their scales”(Wilde). Mining owners had complete control over how much their workers got paid. Being able to judge the coal unfairly or not properly measuring the amount of coal sparked outrage within the industry and promoted change to happen. Another corrupt method owners used was fining and overpricing goods for the workers(Wilde). Although the workers were paid a significant amount, unfair fines could quickly lower their wages. Also, because people who mined lived together they all shopped at the same stores. These stores were usually owned by the mining cooperations and they overpriced goods to compensate for paying high wages. The extensive number of problems in the coal industry including, health and safety, and corruption, caused an outcry for change along with new ideas to be