炎起爨下薪－－清代臺灣的燃料利用與燃料產業發展

Utilization of Fuel and Developmen t of Fuel Industry in Qing Taiwan

燃料是生活中重要物資，燃料的取得與利用也是生活史、經濟史以及環境史的重要研究題材。本文分析清代臺灣的燃料利用形態、燃料消費市場，並據以論述燃料產業的發展脈絡。從本文的討論可知，清代臺灣使用的燃料主要有四種：作物秸稈、柴薪、木炭、煤炭等。農業人口多以作物秸稈為燃料，非農業人口則以柴薪和木炭為主要燃料，後者的消費需求構成清代臺灣主要的燃料商品市場。分析每人平均燃料消費量，若全以柴薪計算，在同治、光緒年間，每人每年約消耗0.9－1.0公噸的木柴燃料。因清中葉以降人口益曾多、消費市場擴大，天然林木卻逐漸減少，導致燃料資源價值提升。

As fuel is an important material in daily life, its acquirement and utilization is thus a significant subject of research in life history, economic history as well as in environmental history. This paper first examines how fuel was consumed and traded in Qing Taiwan, and then traces the development of the wood-for-fuel industry. Four major types of fuel, namely straw, timber, charcoal and coal, were used in Qing Taiwan. Among them, straw was used mainly by people engaged in agricultural production. With the rest of the population using timber and charcoal, the consumption demand for timber and charcoal thus constituted the main market of fuel in Qing Taiwan. During the reigns of Emperors Tongzhi (同治) and Guangxu (光緒)， the consumption of timber per capita was around 0.9- 1.0 ton.