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Dutch Build Windmills
The mill reached it's greatest size snd its most efficient form in the hands of the Dutch engineers toward the end of the sixteenth century. The Dutch provinces, developed the windmill to the fullest possible degree: it ground the grain produced on the rich meadows, it sawed the wood and it ground the spices. Above all, the windmill was the chief agent in land reclamation. The threat of inundation by the sea led these North Sea fishermen and farmers to attempt to control the water. -
Coal Begins to Displace Use of Other Energies
The greatest shift in population and industry that took place in the eighteenth century was due to the introduction of coal as source of mechanical power, to the use of new means of making that power effective - the steam engine- and to new methods of smelting and working up iron. Out of this coal and iron complex, a new civilizatiom developed. By the end of the eighteenth century coal began to take the place of current sources of energy. -
First Steam Engine Developed in England to Pump Water Out of Coal Mines
Thomas Newcomen built a steam machine close by a coal shaft in 1712. Newcomen's first machine made twelve strokes a minute, raising 10 gallons of water with each stroke. It's strength is estimated at 5.5 horsepower, not impressive to us, but the 'fire engine', as it was sometimes called, was a sensation in power-starved Britain and Europe. Soon there were scores of New comen engines, most nodding at the pitheads of Britain's mines, which now could be dug twice as deep as before. -
First Commercial Coal Production in US Begins in Richmond, Virginia
"In 1701, coal was found by Huguenot settlers on the James River in what is now Richmond, Virginia. By 1736, several 'coal mines' were shown on a map of the upper Potomac River near what is now the border of Maryland and West Virginia.
The first coal 'miners' in the American colonies were likely farmers who dug coal from beds exposed on the surface and sold it by the bushel. In 1748, the first commercial coal production began from mines around Richmond, Virginia. -
Process of Electrolysis Discovered
"English scientists William Nicholson and Sir Anthony Carlisle discovered that applying electric current to water produced hydrogen and oxygen gases. This process was later termed 'electrolysis." The discovery of electrolysis was an important historical step in the development of hydrogen energy and the hydrogen fuel cell. -
First Natural Gas Well in US Is Drilled
In 1821, the first well specifically intended to obtain natural gas was dug in Fredonia, New York, by, William Hart. After noticing gas bubbles rising to the surface of a creek. Hart dug a 27 foot well to try and obtain a larger flow of gas to the surface. Hart is regarded by many as the 'father of nature' -
First Coal Powered Iron Forges Are Developed in New England
American iron was still being produced by charcoal. New England still relied on Europe for most of its iron supply, little metal was yet used in machinery, and steam was hardly employed at all as a source of power. This lag in the use of iron and steam appears to have held back high volume factory production in all industries except textiles. Then in the 1830's and 1840's. these patterns began to change quickly. A revolution in American iron making began in the 1830's with the use of coal. -
Ethanol Blend Becomes Popular Lamp Fuel in US, Displacing Whale Oil
In the 30 or 40 years before petroleum was discovered in Pennslyvania, the leading fuel was 'camphene' (sometimes simply called 'burning fluid'). It was a blend of high-proof ethyl alcohol with 20 to 50 percent turpentine to color the flame and a few drops of camphor oil to mask the turpentine smell. Alcohol for camphene was an important mainstay for distilleries, and, many sold between one third and 80 percent of their product on the fuel market. -
John D. Rockefeller Forms Standard Oil and Develops Petroleum as a Major Energy Source in the US
After the American Civil War, the petroleum industry made continual technological advances that allowed it to emerge as society's major source of energy and lubrication during the twentieth century. The immense potential of petroleum resources and applications became evermore apparent, attracting the interest of one of the most effective businessmen in history, John D. Rockefeller. Working within the South Improvement Company for much of the late 1860s, Rockefeller laid the groundwork for effort -
Albert Einstein Publishes First Theoretical Paper Describing the Photoelectric Effect
In 1905 Albert Einstein publishes the first theoretical work describing the photovoltaic effect titled "Concerning an Heuristic Point Of View Toward the Emission and Transformation of Light." In the paper he showed that light posseses an attribute that earlier scientists had not recognzed. Light, Einstein discovered, contains packets of energy, which he called light quanta. -
Worlds First Flex Fuel Vehicle, the Ford Model-T, Goes into Mass Production
"Ethanol-fueled vehicles date back tothe 1880s when Henry Ford designed a car that ran solely on ethanol. He later built the first flex fuel vehicle: a 1908 Model T designed to operate on either ethanol or gasoline." -
First Commercial Wind Turbines Sold to Generate Eletricity on Remote Farms
Marcellus and Joe Jacobs develop the first commercially available wind turbine for electricity generation, the brothers knew that many remote farms were unable to electrify without using gaoline generators. Gasoline generators were too costly and inconvienient for many remote farms since gasoline had to be constantly transported in bulk over large distances. As a result, many farms remained unelectrified. -
Alcohol Fuel Production Promoted to Combat the Great Depression
The movement for alcohol fuels came to be seen as part of a boarder campaign for industrial uses for farm crops to help fight the Depression. By 1937 motorists from Indiana to South Dakota were urged to use Argol, an ethyl alcohol belnd with gasoline. Two types were available -- Agrol 5. with five to seven percent alcohol,and Argol 10, with twelve and a half to 17 and a half percent alcohol. -
Hoover Dam, the World's Largest Hydroelectric Power Plant, Is Built
Hoover Dam is completed on the Colorado River in Arizona in 1935, four years after construction began in 1931. At the time of its completion, the Hoover Dam was the largest hydroelectric producer in the world. The dam remains the largest producer of hydroelectricity in the world until 1948. -
Santa Barbara Oil Spills Draws National Attention
At the time of the spill in January 1969, 925 wells have been drilled along the coastal tidelands from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles. When Union Oil's well, A-21, blew on January 28, it leaked 235,000 gallons of crude, creating a slick of 800 miles. Although Washington responded with investigations and studies, that process offered little immediate relief to Santa Barbara. -
President Carter Delivers Famous Energy Speech Arguing for Conservation and Alternative Fuels
President Jimmy Carter makes a famous speech on energy, detailing how the US is facing an imminent energy shortage and arguing that the country must make profound changes in the way it uses energy. -
Federal Surface Mining Control Act Signed to Lessen Environmental Impacts of Surface Coal Mining
The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) was entacted in 1977 after the US Congress recognized the need to regulate mining activity, rehabilitate abandoned mines, and protect society and the environment from the adverse effects of mining operations. Before 1977, surface coal mining landowners had abandoned 1.1 million coal mine sites in the United States. The SMCRA directed owners of coal mines to contribute bonds for lanf rehabilitation and environmental damages caused by mining. -
World's First Wind Farm Built in New Hampshire
In December 1980, US Windpower installed the world's first wind farm, consisting of 20 wind turbines rated at 30 kilowatts each, on the shoulder of Crotched Mountain in southern New Hampshire. Like many firsts, it was a failure: the developer overestimated the wind resource, and the turbines frequently broke U.S. Windpower, which later changed its name to Kenetech, subsequently developed wind farms in California. -
US Begins Importing More Petroleum Than It Produces
For the first time in its history, the United States imports more petroleum than it produces. -
President Bush Unveils the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative to Promote Hydrogen Fuel Cell Development
The Hydrogen Fuel Initiative (HFI) increased federal funding for hydrogen and fuel cell research, development, and demonstration. (RD&D) to $1.2 billion over five years. With this increase in funding, the HFI accelerated the pace of RD&D efforts focused on achieving specific targets that would enable hydrogen and fuel cell technology readiness in the 2015 timeframe. -
US House Prevents Drilling for Oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Both the U.S. House and Senate budget bills included a provision that would allow for oil drilling in a small fraction of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Senate passed its budget bill last week, but leaders in the House dropped the ANWR provision late November 9 after a small group of moderate Republicans threatened to withhold support for the budget if ANWR were included. -
Worst Coal Ash Spill in US History in Kingston, Tennessee
In the early morning of December 22, 2008, the earthern wall of containment pond at Tennessee's Kingston Fossil Plant gave away. The breach released 1.3 million cubic meters (1.7 million cubic yards) of fly ash - a coal-- combustion waste product captured and stormed in wet form,,, The spill infiltrated the Emory River, buried some 120 hectared (300 acres) in sludge, and even knocked a nearby home completely off its foundation. -
BP Oil Rig Explodes & Causes Largest Oil Spill in US History
On Apr. 20. 2010, the British Petroleum (BP) Deepwater Horizon oil rig 52 miles off the coast of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico exploded, killing 11 crew members. On Apr. 22 the drilling rig sank 5,000 feet to the ocean floor, causing a series of breaks in the oil pipeline. Initially it was estimated by BP that about 1,000 barrels of oil a day were leaking into the Gulf of Mexico from the broken pipe. On Ap. 28, the NOAA stated the pipe was leaking closer to 5,000 barrels a day into the Gulf. -
Earthquake off Coast of Japan Damages Six Powerplants at Fukushima Daiichi; Nuclear Crisis Eventually Reaches Leven 7, the Highest Levevl Possible
"A magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami hit Japan's northeastern coast, knocking out power and swamping the backup diesel generators needed to cool the six reactors and spent fuel pools at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant." "Engineers scramble to prevent a nuclear meltdown. Some of the reactors begin to grow hotter with their cooling systems disabled. A hydrogen explosion rocks Unit 1, causing a radiation leak. Workers furiously pump seawater into the reactor's core. -
EPA Announces First Clean Air Act Standard for Carbon Pollution from New Power Plants
On Mar. 27, 2012 the US Enviromental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed the first Clean Air Act standard for carbon pollution from new power plants. The rule applies to all new power plants that burn fossil fuel to create electricity including coal and natural gas fired power plants. The new rule proposes that new fossil fuel power plants must meet an output-based standard of 1,000 pounds of CO2 per megawatt-hour. -
President Obama releases his climate action plan incuding increased use of renewable energy and carbon pollution restrictions for power plants
In 2012 the President set a goal to issue permits for 10 gigawatts of renewables on public lands by the end of the year. The Department of the Interior achieved this goal ahead of schedule and the President has directed it to permit sn addiotional 10 gigawatts by 2020. The Department of Defense - the single largest consumer of energy in the United States- is commited to deploying 3 gigawatts of renewable energy on millitart installations, including solar,wind, biomass, and geothermal, by 2025. -
Ivanpah, the World's Largest Concentrated Solar Power Generation Plant, Goes Online
As the largest concentrating solar power (CSP) plant in the world, Ivanpah harnesses the abundant sunlight of the Southwest United States to provide power on a massive scale. The facility has the capacity to generate 392 megawatts (MW) of clean electricity- enough to power 94,400 average American homes. -
President Obama Announces Solar Power Commitments and Executive Actions
Today, President Obama announced more than 300 private and public sector commitments to create jobs and cut carbon pollution by advancing solar deployment and energy efficiency. The commitments represent more than 850 megawatts of solar deployed- enough to power nearly 130,000 homes. -
President Obama Announces Clean Power Plan, Imposing the First Nationwide Limits on Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Power Plants
President Barack Obama on Monday will mandate steep cuts to power-plant carbon emissions, as he unveils his administration's signature initiative to combat climate change and sets in motion sweeping changes to the country’s electricity industry.The administration's plan will force the utility industry to shift toward cleaner-burning energy sources for decades to come as the EPA sets the first-ever limits on greenhouse gases from power plants, requiring a 32% cut in emissions by 2030 from 2005. -
Obama on burying coal
Invention is the engine of progress, but when President Obama claims that he "reinvented our energy sector", he should say that he has put the engine in reverse. His scheme to keep coal in the ground to make alternative energy sources more price-competitive will only make the cost of living more expensive."Rather than subsidize the past, we should invest in the future-especially in communities that rely on fossil fuels. That’s why I’m going to push to change the way we manage our oil and coal."
