Guardian: Few people would put the West Midlands town of Dudley at the centre of world history. Yet former oil executive Gary Kendall credits the British coal-mining town with setting in motion a global energy system that could jeopardise our very existence. In 1712 Thomas Newcomen introduced his revolutionary steam engine. The breakthrough machine burned coal, to create steam, to spurt out subterranean water, to dig deeper in Dudley's pits. Deeper mines meant greater coal production, which warmed more homes...