Man first learn to control fire around 1 million BC. Man has used fire to cook food and to warm his shelters ever since. Fire also served as protection against animals.
Thousands of years ago, human beings also learned how to use wind as an energy source. Wind is produced by an uneven heating by the sun on the surface of the earth because of the different specific heats of land and water. Hot air has lower pressure than cold air and since high pressure tries to equalize with low pressure the current called wind is produced. Around 1200 BC, in Polynesia, people learned to use this wind energy as a propulsive force for their boats by using a sail.
About 5 thousand years ago, magnetic energy was discovered in China. Magnetic force pulled iron objects and it also provided useful information to navigators since it always pointed North because of the Earth's magnetic field.
Electric energy was discovered by a Greek philosopher named Thales, about 2500 years ago. Thales found that, when rubbing fur against a piece of amber, a static force that would attract dust and other particles to the amber was produced which now we know as the "electrostatic force".
Around 1000 BC, the Chinese found coal and started using it as a fuel. It burned slower and longer than wood and gave off more heat. It served as an excellent fuel and continued to be used for centuries thereafter. When Marco Polo returned to Italy after an exploration to China in 1275, he introduce coal to the Western world.
In this century, Europeans also learned to contain solar heat in a closed room made out of glass (a greenhouse) to grow plants with the indoor warmth even in the cold weather.
In 1712, Thomas Newcomen invented a more effective steam engine. Like the Savery steam engine, it was an atmospheric engine and was made for pumping water out of coal mines. However, it was simpler and more effective than the previous one. Instead of making the water from the mine directly fill the cylinder of the engine, the Newcomen engine pumped the water indirectly with exterior pumps. It was a powerful and economical engine that had the capacity of up to 4.7 million foot-pounds of work per bushel of coal. Later, its efficiency was increased to 9 million foot-pounds/bushel of coal by J. Smeaton.
A superior steam engine was developed by James Watt in the 1770's. Unlike the two previous engines that relied on only one operating cylinder, Watt's engine had two and operated with the flow of heat between the two cylinders rather than using the pressure of the atmosphere. Its efficiency was up to 20 million foot-pounds/bushel of coal, doubling the capacity of the Newcomen-Smeaton engine. Watt's steam engine was not only to be used in pumping water out of mines. It soon proved to have the greater significance of being the driving force of the Industrial Revolution.
While coal was being used extensively by the industrial movement, some scientists were already becoming concerned about the exhaust from combustion of the fossil fuel. Some of these scientists started developing natural energy sources as an alternative to coal. The energy sources include solar energy, hydroelectric energy, and geothermal energy.
Solar energy was first developed by Mouchout of France in 1860. His solar engine consisted of a a glass-enclosed iron cauldron with reflectors that concentrated solar radiation to boil water and to operate a small steam engine with the steam produced. After observing this engine, William Adams improved the solar engine by reflecting solar radiation with several mirrors to a copper boiler elevated on a tower. A modern version of it looks like the picture on the left. With a configuration of 72 mirrors it was possible to produce 3 times as much power as the Mouchout solar engine. Several other modifications made by Charles Tellier, John Ericsson, Henry E. Willsie, Eneas, and Shuman considerably improved the performance of the solar engines, but the engines failed to commercialize because of the widespread and relatively cheaper use of coal.
Constructions of small hydroelectrical power plants were also constructed in the 19th century. Windmills that up until then were used for pumping water or grinding crops were also developed in an attempt to produce electrical power. Geothermal energy began to be used to heat up houses and, by the end of the century, to produce electricity.
Another big change occured when Colonel Edwin Drake managed to drill and extract crude petroleum oil out of the ground in Titusville, Pennsylvania. It was discovered that several useful products could be produced from petroleum, including kerosene, a gas that was ideal for lighting purposes, and gasoline, a fuel that could be used for locomotive purposes. With the invention of internal combustion engines mounted on automobiles, petroleum gradually began to dominate coal in the energy industry.
The French inventor Lenoir invented an internal combustion engine that used gasoline as fuel. It was a big relief for the oil companies since petroleum was not a preferred automobile fuel. The German inventors Dailmer and Benz invented the first automobile by mounting the engine on a carriage. Henry Ford later put automobiles into mass production, and the car started to become a common means of transportation. The Wright brothers invented the first airplane with a gasoline engine, which ushered in an era of faster and cheaper transporation.
As we look over our energy's history, one thing is clear: the energy sources that have sustained civilized society for so long, namely fossil fuels, have been abused and are now rapidly becoming nonexistent. It is important for us to learn that whatever the energy source of the future turns out to be, we must learn to conserve and value it.