Having a compact energy storage. Coal was fine for steam engines, but gasoline, diesel and related fossil fuels were a game changer. Sure, they pollute, have destroyed our environment, cause various diseases and might even result in our extinction sooner rather than later, but hear me out.

Liquid fuels made it possible to build and operate compact and light engines that provide an amazing amount of power. Also, the fuel lasts a long time compared to coal and wood. This means that we can transport items and people across the globe, visit distant places within a single day, and commute to work in places that have barely any infrastructure.

All of this has transformed individual lives, large parts of the society and even the global economy. Imagine doing all that a hundred years before knowing how to build solar panels and batteries. That sort of global change was totally unimaginable in the 1600s.

But seriously though, that change didn’t come for free, and it’s about time we stop relying on this shortcut. It was literally quick and dirty, so we really need to switch to something more sustainable. If only solar panels had been invented before oil…