Quaderni IRCrES-CNR, (2020) vol. 5, n. 1 cap. 3

Una miniera in riva al mare. Le importazioni di carbon fossile attraverso il porto di Genova e la crescita moderna in Italia (1820-1913)

A coal mine by the sea. The imports of fossil coal through the port of Genoa and the modern growth in Italy (1820-1913)

Maurizio Lupo

CNR-IRCrES, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche – Istituto di Ricerca sulla Crescita Economica Sostenibile, Genova – Italia

CNR-ISMed, Istituto di studi sul Mediterraneo, Napoli – Italia

corresponding author: lupo@ismed.cnr.it

 

Abstract

The paper deals with the results of a research about the importation and commerce of fossil coal in Italy during the XIXth and early XXth century. The increasing supply of coal was a very important circumstance in Italian economic history. In fact, the possibility of using a new source of energy, cheaper and more effective than traditional ones, was an essential precondition for the industrialization of the country. The fossil coal arrived above all through the harbour of Genoa. This started off many transformations which changed the urban and social aspect of the city. Along with a drastic modernization of the harbour, and the development of communications, as roads and railroads, for transporting the goods in direction of the factories in Milan and Turin, the birth of a new class of workers, specialized in handling of coal, and the growth of the local and national entrepreneurship, became key elements of such a transformation.

 Keywords: fossil coal imports, harbour of Genoa, Italian modern growth.

 JEL codes: N13, N73

 

How to cite this article

Lupo, M. (2020). Una miniera in riva al mare. Le importazioni di carbon fossile attraverso il porto di Genova e la crescita moderna in Italia (1820-1913). Quaderni IRCrES, 5(1), 51-58. http://dx.doi.org/10.23760/2499-6661.2020.003