Alternative Futures in the Past: Dutch Discourses around Natural Gas in the 1960s
by Wouter de Rijk
Abstract In 1959, the largest natural gas reserve of Europe was discovered in the Dutch pro-
vince of Groningen. This discovery marked the start of an unprecedented energy transition that would transform energy consumption in the Netherlands. Building on
insights from the discipline of energy humanities, this essay argues that this energy transition was not only material in nature, but was also closely intertwined with
cultural changes. By examining the discourses around natural gas, this essay explores how the future was imagined through this new energy source. This envisioned
future was characterised by three main elements: prosperity, modernity and abun-
dance. Understanding the cultural dimension of this past energy transition is relevant for our current moment in history, where a truly alternative future beyond the twentieth-century model of fossil fuel-based mass consumption has to be imagined.
