1950s Syndrome and Danish Energy Consumption and Production

From mid 1950s to the early 1970s, Danish society went through drastic changes, and this period has been called the prolonged 1950s. From the post-war shortage society emerged a growth, consumer, and welfare society. Two decades of economic growth with the highest growth rates ever, fuelled by cheap oil deliveries from the Middle East. Growth was a lever for progress and a new lifestyle: cars, single-family houses in suburbs, consumer goods, travels, and use-and-throw-away attitudes. Consumptive ways of living were democratized through price reductions, redistribution, and trickle-down effects. At the end of the period environmental critique emerged of overconsumption – pollution, problematic new technologies, waste problems, and future resource shortage.