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Patent for making coal gas.
David Melville received a patent for his apparatus for making coal gas. Coal gas was used for street lighting. -
Second law of thermodynamics
Rudolf Clausius discovers the first statement of the second law of thermodynamics, restated by Clausius in 1865 as "entropy always increases in a closed system." In other words, energy in a closed system will change toward heat and disorder. -
Earliest known record of direct converstion of solar radiation into mechanical power
The earliest known record of the direct conversion of solar radiation into mechanical power belongs to Auguste Mouchout. By the following year he was granted the first patent for a motor running on solar power. -
Production of electrical current
Pierre Curie discovers the piezoelectric effect that certain substances produce and electric current as a result of pressure on them. -
AC generators
Nikola Tesla develops A.C. (alternate current) generators enabling electricity to be transmitted longer distances. The first plant is built on the Willamette River near Oregon City, Ore. -
The first offshore oil wells are drilled
The first offshore oil wells are drilled. -
Air pollution from burning coal
Charles Proteus Steinmetz warns in Future of Electricity about air pollution from burning coal and water pollution from uncontrolled sewage disposal into rivers. -
First commercial greenhouse use of geothermal energy
The first commercial greenhouse use of geothermal energy is undertaken in Boise, Idaho. The operation utilizes a 1000-foot well drilled in 1926. In Klamath Falls, Charlie Lieb develops the first down-hole heat exchanger (DHE) to heat his. -
The first wind turbine to generate energy for an alternating current central power system
The first wind turbine to generate energy for an alternating current central power system was placed in service in Grandpa's Knob, Vt. -
EPA created
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is created. -
First flash geothermal plant
UNOCAL builds the country's first flash geothermal plant, generating 10 MW at Brawley, California. -
Electric Vehicle introduced by GM
General Motors Corp. introduces an Electric Vehicle at the Greater LA Auto Show: the Impact (later refined into the sporty EV1, available for lease as of January 1995). -
Licensed power plants total 36
The Energy Commission approved the Burbank power plant, bringing the total of licensed power plants since 1999 to 36. Of those, 18 were online producing 4,976 megawatts. Another 14 plants were awaiting licensing. -
Record prices for crude oil
Record high prices for crude oil in 2004 pinched drivers. -
Biodiesal plants
One company AGRA Biofuels has announced that it will build no less than 11 biodiesel plants in Pennsylvania in the next five years. Another company, Keystone Biofuels has a new plant there that
