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First Biomass Usage
In 1840, the first biomass usage was created when it heated up a commercial Gasifer in France. There were many tries, and may errors, but once they realized they were on the right path, they were able to develop it further. -
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The development of 5 major Sustainable energy groups
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Discovering Geysers
William Bell Eliot, a member of a search party thats surveys San Fransisco, stumbles upon jets of steam that are coming from the bottom of a valley. He names this natural wonder a "Geyser". What he does know is that the the find of geysers will benefit humankind because of its relaxing waters. -
First US Windmill
The first windmill made in the U.S. was designed and built by Daniel Halladay in Connecticut. The windmill was used to pump water on farms and ranches. His windmill had 18 blades and a tail to allow wind to turn the machine. -
First Solar conversion
A French mathmetican by the name of Auguste Mouchout was the first known person to be able to convert solar radiation into mechanical power. -
A different way of producing wind
Quebec Hydro (despite the name, this company has no relevance to water.) starts a wind power program with 40 Kilowatt vertical-axis turbines. These turbines are also known as egg beaters because of their unique physical appearence. -
First Hydropower plant
Hydropower was beginning! The first Hydroelectric plant was built in Wisconsin, and it was used for incandescent lighting. The creator of this idea was a paper manufacturer name H.J. Rogers. -
Henry Ford contributing!
Ethanol, an achohol fuel that's been distilled from plant materials, is put into one of Henry Ford's first automoblies, the quardicycle. The test was a success and it was a fully functional bike. -
First Solar Cell
American inventor Charles Fritts, developed the first solar cell (panel). This panel barely worked, but he made the design open for other people to improve. -
Wind Power helping others
In 1890, windpower started to help people with farming and businesses. Windmills pumped water for ranchers and farmers, and generated electricity for businesses. -
Hot Spring water helping families!
Folks in Boise, Idaho felt the heat of the world's first district heating system as water from hot springs was piped down to local town buildings. Within a few years, this hot spring system was serving 200 homes and 40 businesses. Nowadays, there are four disctrict heating sytems in Ohio that heat 5 million to 7 million square feet each. -
The Niagara Falls Hydropower plant
A hydropower plant in Niagara Falls opened, and it provided electricity to the local people. One year later, when a new powerline opened, electric power from Niagara Falls was redirected to Buffalo, New York -
Reclamation Act of 1902
The Reclamation Act of 1902 created the United States Reclamation Service. The Reclamation Service was created to manage water resources that provide people the authority to build hydropower plants at dams. -
From wood to coal
For centuries and centuries, people used wood to keep a fire alive because there really wasn't any other option to heat your home, In 1910, coal starts to replace wood as the fuel for fires in city homes. The reason people started to use coal even though they knew that it would burn is that they never thought that it could scale to the household need. -
More and more greenhouses!
The first commercial greenhouse use of geothermal energy is made in Boise, Idaho. This operation uses a 1000-foot well that was originally drilled in 1926. -
The Hoover Dam
Boulder Dam (later re-named the Hoover Dam) began operations on the Colorado River. This hydropower plant produced 130,000 kilowatts of electricity. Due to erosion of other rivers, the Hoover Dam is one of only a few dams still in operation that began before 1950. -
From wood to natural gas and thermostats
Out of the two events, this was the more major turning point of using alternative fuels. This was the start of using elecrticity and natural gas as heating for stoves and thermostat usage instead of wood. -
Converting sunlight into electricity
Calvin Fuller, and David Chapin are credited with building the first effective photovoltalic cell. They built the first solar cell that converts sunlight into electricity. This solar panel was not efficient in the beginning, but later, they figured out a way to change the efficiency rate from 4% to 11% -
More and more Solar Panels!!
A building in Albequerque, New Mexico called the Bridgers and Paxton Solar Building was the first building to feature all solar heating. The south wall slanted at a 30 degree angle in order to capture the strong rays of the sun. The designers were Frank Bridgers and Don Paxton. -
First installation and large windmill farms
The first large (utility scale) wind farms are installed in California. Due to the volume of the installation, important energy lessons are learned, such as windmill placement and the way to ensure higher wind impact on the blades. -
Electrical Geothermal conversions
The first electricity is generated from goethermal resources in Hawaii. The Department of Energy showcases the production of electricity from geothermal resources by using binary technology. -
Hydropower today
Nowaydays, 8% - 10% of the U.S. electricity comes from hydropower, depending on the supply of water, and the rainfall. Fun fact: The states with the largest hydroelectric production in order are: Washington, California, New York, and Oregon. In total, the United States has 18,000 megawatts of pumped storage capacity. -
Wind power today
Nowadays around 6% of the U.S.'s energy is from wind power. That is around 181 terawatts per hour. The U.S .Department of Energy predicts that by 2030, windpower could supply 20% of electrical energy. -
Solar Power today
Today, less than 1% percent of the U.S's energy comes from solar energy. That is equal to 25.3 terawatts per hour; however, from 2014 to 2015, the US solar market grew 41% and job employment for solar panel installation increased 20%. -
Geothermal Power today
Today, around .2% of the U.S's energy comes from geothermal energy. Also, geothermal energy is worldwide, providing electricity to 20 countries, Examples include the U.S, Japan, Russia, Italy, and France. The most used geothermal energy comes from Iceland with 20% of their electrical energy coming from it! -
Biomass today
Nowadays, industries have increased the usage of biomass energy more than any time period in history; however, since biomass is harmful to the atmosphere, enviromental laws have been put forth in the past decades to minimize the effect of toxic air. Also, biomass energy represents 21% of all renewable energy used in 2015.
