During the 1950s and early 1960s, when industrialization was just getting underway, coal was the ROC's major source of power. But as industrialization increased, coal yielded primacy of place to petroleum, highly combustible and broad in its scope of applications.
民國四十二年至五十三年間，也就是台灣工業萌芽的時期，我國使用能源漸增，而用來發電的能源佔總能量的三分之一，這時期以煤炭為主要能源。而後逐漸進入了工業快速發展時期，發電應載快、運用範圍廣的石油替代煤炭，挑起大樑。