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Humankind has always needed
energy, and while the source and usage of energy have changed over time some patterns have remained constant. In earlier times
food was the key source of energy for people and their livestock. This form of energy not only allowed our race to survive but dictated in part how civilization developed. Societies worldwide focused on developing new and sustainable food sources. The storage of food and its distribution was a factor in how groups learned to organize themselves communally, best survive periods of shortage, and also benefit from occasional abundances. The discovery of methods of processing and preserving food meant that new sources of food could be used with increased efficiency and increasingly less waste. People migrated across continents, seas, and oceans in response to sometimes complex social pressures, but certainly the search for food and reliable sources of food was a common factor in their movements. There may be a greater urgency today than heretofore to identifying
sustainable sources of energy, increasing the efficiency of energy usage, and finding new sources of energy due to expanding world population, depletion of energy resources, and growing environmental concerns; but there is no question that similar patterns have been in evidence for thousands of years. And there is something timeless and circular about modern society growing crops that once would have been considered food, but now are solely intended to produce energy as biofuels.The history of how energy is and was used illustrates how competing usages dictate the exploitation of resources, often to the detriment of the original but less powerful first adopters. Charcoal as fuel for cooking has a long history and is still in demand today for use in barbecues. Yet more than five thousand years ago, people found that it was useful
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in smelting of iron and in the Bronze Age applied it to the production of copper and more valuably, bronze. These and subsequent developments caused the clearing of woodlands and competed with land once intended only for agricultural purposes. The use of banks to divide land facilitated the retention of some trees which were then coppiced to provide a source of charcoal. By the thirteenth century Europeans had learned of the Chinese explosive gunpowder, which created a new demand for charcoal yet again. The military use of gunpowder necessitated the casting of cannons, requiring a considerable amount of charcoal. These factors put pressure on supplies of wood suitable for charcoal production, leading to the introduction of restrictions in certain countries. By the eighteenth century the demand for charcoal to support the iron industry was so high that an alternative was desirable, and this was found in the form of coke. Not only could coke replace charcoal for many industrial purposes, but a byproduct of coke production was a combustible gas that could be used in households. Not surprisingly coal and coke producers encouraged the use of their products, further reducing the demand for charcoal. The historical relationship between coke and charcoal demonstrate how a single energy source can have many interacting uses and drivers for its exploitation, and that the resultant interrelationships between users and suppliers are complex.During World Wars I and II and their aftermath, the world witnessed both the horror of the destructive power
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of nuclear energy and the potential promise of an efficient, reliable and clean source of electrical energy. The debate on the future mix of nuclear power in global energy provision, which had to address such issues as nuclear waste disposal, nuclear power plant accidents and their environmental and social consequence, and the continued development and dependence on nuclear energy from an armaments perspective, continues today . Furthermore, the general argument that environmental factors are not the only ones that influence decisions on energy production also applies to what might be called green or clean technologies. Lobby groups pushing their own agendas have not always supported their stances with high quality economic and environmental data. As a result, the informed public has rightly become more robust in questioning the latest projects to harness power through renewable and sustainable sources, whether those involve estuary barrages, wave power, offshore wind, solar power, or bioenergy. Apart from searching for new solutions and developing new methods of production, energy engineers have a clear responsibility to help inform policy makers and the general
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public of the pros and cons of each means of energy production.The world has truly become a global village. The challenges to achieving global economic security and sustainable living—in a world of increasing population and multivariable levels of wealth and social inequality—are complex and vast. The relationship between man and machine, productivity and industrial development, marches on.
Whether in cities of the so-called developed nations or in the rapidly expanding urban population centers of the developing world, concern for the atmosphere that sustains Earth’s ecosystem is of growing importance. Air pollution affects the overall balance and ultimate health of the ecosystem. It is instructive to briefly review the nature and composition of Earth’s atmosphere and to explore the important role played by carbonaceous fuels throughout human history.
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