BY: CODY GOLDER

Energy Timeline

Coal

Coal was discovered by Louis Joliet in 1673 in the Illinois river region. Since then the demand for coal has increased, including major increases in demand during the Industrial Revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries

Coal was once heavily used to heat homes and to run locomotives, but is now mainly used as a source of energy for heat and electricity.

Electricity

Electricity was research and discovered by Benjamin Franklin in 1752. Alessandro Volta created the first battery, usable source of electricity, in 1800.

Electricity is now used to power most anything that you can think of, the list is endless. Including, cell phones, lights, cars, computers, etc.

Ethanol

The first synthetic production of ethanol was 1826 through the efforts of Henry Hennel and S.G. Serullas.

The earliest uses of ethanol was by the Greeks and Arabs in alcoholic beverages. Current uses of the ethanol include fuel, preservation of biological specimens, and the preparation of perfumes.

Geothermal

In the 1900’s demand for electricity led to the consideration of geothermal energy. In 1904 Prince Piero Ginori Conti tested the first geothermal power generator in Larderello, Italy. Later the first geothermal power plant was built there.

Geothermal energy is often uses to heat greenhouses, heat water for fish farmers, and to create electricity in many power plants.

Hydropower

Water power has been used to run mills, and to irrigate crops dating back to Imperial Rome. In the 1830’s, water power increased in use as it became important in the transportation of barges up and down canals.

Municipal Solid Waste

Municipal Solid Waste, simply called trash, can be used to create energy. After this waste is collected it is often incinerated, which produces a high level of energy that can be harness and later used.

Natural Gas

Natural gas was first discovered in the Americas in 1626 when French explorers discovered Native Americans igniting gases near Lake Erie. In 1821 William Hart dug the first successful natural gas well in Fredonia, New York.

Natural gas was first used mainly to light street lamps, and more currently natural gas is being used for almost anything including running vehicles, lighting homes, and heating.

Nuclear

In 1938 a group of chemists Otto Hahn, Fritz Stassmann, Lise Meitner and Otto Robert Frisch, discovered that a neutron could split a nucleus in half, calling this phenomenon “fission”. This led scientists in countries around the world to begin research into nuclear weapons, and later nuclear power.

Nuclear power is now used to create electricity, and to power some military ships, and even some space vehicles.

Oil

In the 1850’s the process to distill kerosene from petroleum was invented by Ignacy Lukasiewicz. The demand for petroleum grew, and the first commercial oil well was drilled in Poland in 1853.

Petroleum quickly became a major use of fuel in the U.S., and after the introduction of Ford’s Model-T, which ran on petroleum based gasoline, it became the major fuel source for transporation.

Photovoltaic

It wasn’t until 1776 that the first solar collector was built, by Horace de Saussare. The collector was cone shaped, and boiled ammonia to create energy.

Early uses of photovoltaic energy include the building of houses into the sides of hills, so that the energy stored during the day would be released as heat in the evening. Recently there has been much research into solar energy, and how to better harness it and use it to run powerful machines.

Solar Thermal

In 1891, Clarence Kemp became the first man to patent a solar thermal energy system. He marketed his idea, and by 1897, 1/3 of the homes in Pasadena, CA had water heated by the sun.

Solar Thermal energy can be used in heating, drying, and water distillation. Without solar thermal energy, or the heat from the sun, we would have not water at all.

Wind

The earliest use of wind energy was when people put sails on ships and travelled the ocean. Over time, creations such as the windmill arose, and in 1887, the first windmill used to produce electricity was made by Professor James Blyth in Scotland.

Some of the earliest uses of wind energy include the powering of large ships, later windmills used wind to grind grain and create electricity.

Wood

The use of wood as a fuel dates back to the time of the Neanderthals, who used it as a source to build fires. Although the use was limited to the ability to create a spark.

Wood is currently used as a fuel to produce heat, as well to power fuel steam engines and steam turbines which produce electricity.

Energy and Power

Energy The capacity to do work. Without energy there would

be no way to perform any form of work.

Power The rate at which work is done. The faster the work is

done, or the more work done the more power.

Classifications of Energy

Unlimited Unlimited resources are those which will never run

out.

Limited Limited resources are those that will inevitably run

out.

Renewable Renewable resources are those that will not run out

because they can be renewed or recreated.

Unlimited

Photovoltaic Energy Photovoltaic energy is an example of an unlimited

energy source. This is because photovoltaic energy comes from the sun, and the sun will never cease to exist, therefore, its power will never run out.

Limited

Coal Coal is an example of a limited resource. Because

coal is simply stored energy from dead plant sources, there is obviously only a limited supply of that energy, and once we have used up all the coal, there will be no more for hundreds of years at least.

Renewable

Wood Wood is an example of a renewable energy source.

This is because although wood is limited, and would eventually run out, we can keep planting trees and growing more of the them to create more wood.

Mechanical Energy

In a turbine, mechanical energy from the turbines is transformed into electrical energy as the turbines turn, creating electricity

In a hand-turn generator mechanical energy is transformed into electrical energy as you turn the handle.

Electrical Energy

In a lamp electrical energy is converted into heat and light energy.

In a television set, electrical energy is converted into light energy to power the screen.

Light Energy

In a solar panel, light energy is transformed into electrical energy to run certain objects.

Chemical Energy

Chemical energy converts to mechanical engine in a steam engine as the wood burns and boils the water, creating steam that runs the engine.

As coal is burned chemical energy is transformed into heat energy.

Nuclear Energy

Nuclear energy heats water, turning turbines, to make electricity. Which can then be converted into mechanical energy.

Nuclear energy can be transformed into heat energy through nuclear power plants, which provide power to heat homes.

Thermal Energy

In large steam engines, thermal energy is converted into mechanical energy to move the vehicle.

Potential Energy

Potential energy is the energy of an object with respect to the position of that object.

Examples A rock sitting on the edge of a cliff A car at rest at the top of a hill A person standing on a tree branch

Kinetic Energy

Kinetic energy is the energy that an object or body has while it is in motion.

Examples A car going fifty miles per hour A dog chasing a cat A squirrel climbing up a tree

Conservation of Energy

The Law of Conservation of energy states: energy can neither be created nor destroyed, it is simply transformed into other forms of energy.