2. Vehicle propulsion technologies

It is not known exactly when the sail was first used on a ship. By 3000 B.C., the sail was widely used to transport goods and people in Europe and Asia. Its use also extended to inland waters, rivers and canals. Sailing reached its apogee for all ships, whether for transporting goods, people or war, before beginning a slow decline in the 19th century with the switch to the motor and the metal hull.

The motor, coal and steam first, before the arrival of internal combustion engines and petroleum, became the norm in the mid-19th century for passenger transport, mainly over short distances. Towards the end of the 19th century, long-distance freight transport became motorized. The opening of the Suez Canal contributed to the decline of the great clippers. It was not until the end of the Second World War (Monnet plan)...