By J. David Cohen/Original Source

Energy is closely linked to human progress and the emergence of our industrial economy. Despite this, many have little idea of what energy really is. How often have we heard said that some people have a certain energy about them or some scene has energy? When this is said, the speaker is talking metaphorically. There is no energy.

In very practical terms, an object possesses or acquires energy if it is in motion or has the capacity to move or is induced to move. Even heat, a form of energy, is represented in a hot object by the object’s tiny molecules in agitated motion.

In the distant past, when humans were hunter-gatherers, man acquired energy from the food he consumed. He expended energy by the work required to obtain food. If the work energy exceeded the food source energy consumed, he would starve and eventually die. This energy balance requirement is now known as the first law of thermodynamics or by its more understandable name, the law of conservation of energy.

Civilized society started with cooperation between people, organized agriculture, and the exploitation of domestic animals. More energy was made available for human use. Excess food production freed people to create the tools and structures of civilization. Man was using energy beyond his own. This led to the formation of the agrarian economy. It characterized the world from about 6,000 years ago until approximately 1800. During that period, energy was largely obtained from the sun through agriculture, the wind through sailing ships, and from the combustion of wood or other available materials. Food was still the fundamental resource for survival.

After 1800, the industrial age grew. It was a revolution. Man began to dig up fossil fuel from the ground. Coal, crude oil, and eventually natural gas was extracted and put to use as a huge new source of energy. This was ancient energy derived from the sun, trapped and stored as dead vegetation from millions of years ago. This giant source of energy provided the work required to manufacture products, grow huge quantities of food, drive cars, trains and trucks, heat homes, make and fly aircraft, power ships, communicate and derive wealth. That is now.

What about tomorrow?

It has been known for some time that growing populations and growing industrialization has put an increasing strain on our ability to meet worldwide demand for fossil fuel. Higher demand and limited available supply has forced prices higher. This has affected economies everywhere.

The need for new sources of fuel is obvious. In the near future, we need to find more fossil fuel to maintain our energy needs. We need to use it more frugally and efficiently; however, population growth will limit many of the gains.

The United States now is sitting on the world’s largest known source of fossil fuel. It is called the Green River Formation situated astride the Green River running through Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah. It has been determined that several centuries worth of oil shale is deposited there. Oil shale is a rocklike material that can yield a bituminous liquid similar to crude petroleum. It can be refined into gasoline and fuel oil. This is a known process. The shale is there for the taking and can make the US, the world’s largest refined petroleum exporter.

In the longer run, we must prepare the future for the partial elimination of fossil fuel. In order to accomplish that, we must construct a huge GREEN energy infrastructure consisting of an energy grid six to seven times larger than our existing electric grid. The output of this new grid will exceed three trillion watts. It will derive its energy from hundreds of thousands of wind turbines, solar thermal and photovoltaic farms, plus many geo-thermal sites in volcanic regions. Al Gore wants this in ten years. I wish him good luck, but it may take more like 50 to 100 years.

J. David Cohen lives in Danvers., MA. He is a retired professional engineer.