|
|
 |
|
Energy Through History |
|
|
|
1600's The Netherlands was the first country to find coal in Europe, and it provided the fuel to England and other nearby countries. In the 17th century, England started producing coal of its own and supplying it to other countries. It suddenly became the provider of virtually the whole 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.
1700's Because most of Europe, especially England, had considerably diminished its forests by this century, it relied extensively on coal as its fuel. Another of the main causes of the considerable demand for coal was the invention of the steam engine. Coal mines were often filled with water that leaked in from the surface and had to be removed by means of lifting up a bucket attached to a rope in order to proceed with the mining. Seeing the inefficiency of the operation, Captain Thomas Savery invented a steam engine in 1698. Its purpose was exclusively to extract water out of the coal mines. His steam engine operated by means of the pressure of the atmosphere and is therefore called an atmospheric engine. It worked by filling a cylinder with steam and then pulling the water when the steam condensed with cooling.
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.
1800's
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.
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 occurred 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. |
|
