1.5 million years ago our species created the first spark that ignited fire. They began using biomass, such as wood, to cook their food, allowing them to gain more nutrients and calories. By 6000 BCE the kiln was created to make pottery, tiles, and bricks. Eventually, these kilns developed to be hot enough to melt metal, and humans began to study metallurgy, the science of metals. 

3200 BCE began the Bronze Age, where it was discovered that smelting copper and tin create a hard, durable alloy, you guessed it, bronze. Trade, agriculture, intermingling of cultures. By 1200 BCE the Iron Age began. Kilns progressed to being able to melt iron, an even stronger metal. It was discovered that infusing iron with carbon results in the creation of steel. Steel truly transformed civilization, making lighter weapons and more resilient tools. 

By 300 BCE humans learned how to harness the energy of flowing water with machines such as water wheels, used to fill aqueducts and irrigate farmland. Over a thousand years later in 900 AD humans began to harness wind energy with windmills. Windmills were typically used in granaries for powdering grains into flour, which was then used for cooking and baking. 

The mid-1700s started the Industrial Revolution, where new modes of manufacturing came into play due to coal powered steam engines. By the 1800s is when the second energy revolution truly began. Natural gas was discovered and used for additional lighting in Britain and the United States, which increased human hours of productivity well into the evening. Income rose and the population boomed. The late 1800s brought about the first automobile, different models were powered by oil (gas) or electricity, but as we know, gas powered vehicles took off. 

Eventually, during World War I, Great Britain switched from steam powered ships to oil powered ships, making them faster and more efficient. This gave them an advantage over Germany, and is arguably considered the deciding factor in WWI, cementing oil as the number one most important commodities on Earth. However, World War II (1939) gave rise to nuclear energy. It was then utilized to boil water into steam, which would spin turbines to generate electricity. 

Flashback to the early 1900s in America, where electric cars were being manufactured once more, until yet again gas guzzlers took rise. Thanks to Toyota, in 1997 they released the first mass-produced hybrid electric vehicle, the Prius. Since then electric and hybrid cars have been on the rise, as more people are understanding the toll gas vehicles can take on our atmosphere and public health. Although the first wind turbine was built in 1887, it wasn’t until 1980s that the first wind farm and offshore wind turbines were built. As of 2021, only 9% of the United State’s electricity comes from wind energy and only 2.8% come from solar.

“Humanity’s primary energy use has increased twenty times over since 1850 and nearly five times over since 1950. In the US, each individual consumed 200 kilowatt hours of electricity in 1950, and 23,700 in 2000.” This consumption has continued to increase, and will only continue to increase more as technology progresses. The most sustainable solution is renewable energy, as humankind will never runout.

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Written by Jessica Maliszewski | December 30, 2022