Fossil fuel production and consumption began with coal — its first reported uses date as far back as 4000BC in China where carving took place out of black lignite (one of the several forms of coal).¹. However, large-scale combustion of coal is typically correlated with the period around the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. The visualisation shows the global consumption of fossil fuels — coal, oil and gas — from 1800 onwards. Overall, we see that global consumption of fossil energy has increased more than 1300-fold. As shown, coal was the first and only fossil source until the 1860s when crude oil consumption began. Natural gas production began a couple of decades later, in the 1880-90s.