Following Hubbert (1956) and his Peak Oil theory, there was a notable increase in efforts by environmentalists to find substitutes for oil as a way to satisfy the demand for global energy demands, but a century earlier almost all energy already came from renewable sources. Although the first use of biomass for fire is well documented several hundred years ago, it is widely accepted that its use only became common much later. In relation to sustainability measures to reduce the use of non-renewable sources for fire, in How Societies decide to Fail or Succeed Jared Diamond documents some early cases of extensive efforts, such as the forest management policy that occurred during the Edo period of Japan in the 17th century. However, it is in the 18th century, with the Industrial Revolution, when the appearance of coal as a more efficient means of fueling steam engines than wood, leads to a massive use of this resource. But its massive use sparked major concerns about how oil sources and coal mines were rapidly diminishing, evidenced by the prediction of the inventor of the first solar-powered engine, French professor Augustine Mouchot, in 1873: "It will come the time when European industry will cease to find the natural resources it needs so much. Oil sources and coal mines are not inexhaustible but are rapidly diminishing in many places. Man, therefore, will return to the power of 'water and wind? Or will it migrate to where the most powerful source of heat sends all its rays? These examples of individuals and societies recognizing the importance of finding the right balance between the well-being of society and its needs at...... middle of paper ......series 2) Results of the 2005 World Summit , Resolution A/60/1. (United Nations General Assembly, New York, 2005). Malthus, Thomas R. An Essay on the Principle of Population: Library of Economics" (London, 1798). Meadows DH, Meadows DL, Randers J., Behrens WW, The Limits to Growth (Universe Books, New York, 1972). UNPD, World Population Prospects: 2006 Revision, Population Database.Beckerman, Wilfred In Defense of Economic Growth (London, 1974).Ekins, Paul Limits to growth and Sustainable development: grappling with ecological realities (London, Wilfred Development). sustainable: it is a useful concept (Environmental Values ​​3, London, 1994) pp. 191–209. Solow, R. M. Intergenerational Equity and Exhaustible Resources (Review of Economic Studies: Exhaustible Resource Economics Symposium, Massachutes, 1974) pp.. 29–46.