Topic: Steam Power

A comparison of steam power and petroleum reveals that the oil industry historically suppressed steam technology due to its high efficiency and fuel flexibility. Kenneth Price notes that the Titanic consumed approximately 600 tons of coal per day, which at 1908 prices allowed for the transport of passengers across the Atlantic for roughly one dollar each. The discussion posits that the safety and low cost of coal-fired steamships posed a direct threat to the emerging oil monopoly.