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Dutch Build Windmills for Multiple Uses
"The mill reached its greatest size and its most efficient form in the hands of the Dutch engineers toward the end of the sixteenth century... The Dutch provinces... developed the windmill to the fullest possible degree: it ground the grain produced on the rich meadows, it sawed the wood... and it ground the spices.. -
Development of Coal Coke in England Aids Iron Production and Helps to Pave the Way for the Industrial Revolution
"Experimenters... discovered that the roasting process used to make charcoal [from wood] could be adapted to coal, the result being an extremely hot-burning fuel called coke. The use of coke in iron and steel production, beginning in England in the 17th century, would so transform those industries as to constitute one of the key developments paving the way for the industrial revolution." -
Coal Begins to Displace Use of Other Energies
"The great shift in population and industry that took place in the eighteenth century was due to the introduction of coal as a source of mechanical power, to the use of new means of making that power effective - the steam engine - and to new methods of smelting and working up iron. Out of this coal and iron complex, a new civilization developed... -
First Steam Engine Developed in England to Pump Water Out of Coal Mines
"By 1700 [coal] mine shafts were as deep as 200 feet. There were problems down there with gases and especially with flooding... Muscle, animal and human, and sometimes watermills and windmills were put to work lifting the water out of the mines, but it was an endless battle that technology circa 1700 could not win... -
Process of Electrolysis Discovered
"English scientists William Nicholson and Sir Anthony Carlisle discovered that applying electric current to water produced hydrogen and oxygen gases. This process was later termed 'electrolysis.'" The discovery of electrolysis was an important historical step in the development of hydrogen energy and the hydrogen fuel cell. -
First Natural Gas Well in US Is Drilled
"In 1821, the first well specifically intended to obtain natural gas was dug in Fredonia, New York, by William Hart. After noticing gas bubbles rising to the surface of a creek, Hart dug a 27 foot well to try and obtain a larger flow of gas to the surface. Hart is regarded by many as the 'father of natural gas' in America... -
First Diesel Engine to Run on Vegetable Oil Demonstrated at World's Fair in Paris
"The first public demonstration of vegetable oil based diesel fuel was at the 1900 World's Fair, when the French government commissioned the Otto company to build a diesel engine to run on peanut oil. The French government was interested in vegetable oils as a domestic fuel for their African colonies. Rudolph Diesel later did extensive work on vegetable oil fuels and became a leading proponent of such a concept, believing that farmers could benefit from providing their own fuel. -
Birth of the Modern Oil Industry: Lucas Gusher and the Discovery of Texas' Vast Spindletop Oil Field
"The modern oil industry was born on a hill in southeastern Texas. This hill was formed by a giant underground dome of salt as it moved slowly towards the surface. As it crept, it pushed the earth that was in its path higher and higher. This dome was known by several names, but the one that stuck was 'Spindletop'. Through the later half of the 19th century, Pennsylvania had been the most oil-productive state in the country. All that changed on January 10th, 1901... -
Albert Einstein Publishes First Theoretical Paper Describing the Photoelectric Effect
In 1905 Albert Einstein publishes the first theoretical work describing the photovoltaic effect titled "Concerning an Heuristic Point of View Toward the Emission and Transformation of Light." In the paper "he showed that light possesses an attribute that earlier scientists had not recognized. Light, Einstein discovered, contains packets of energy, which he called light quanta... -
Petroleum Becomes Most Used Fuel in the US
Due primarily to demand caused by the automobile, 1950 is the first year that petroleum becomes most consumed fuel in the US. -
Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 Passed to Allow the Leasing of Federal Land for Geothermal Energy Development
"To encourage the development of geothermal energy [energy generated by the heat of the earth], the United States government passed the Geothermal Steam Act in 1970 allowing the leasing of land containing geothermal resources; however, Congress excluded any lands within the National Park System, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lands, and any other lands prohibited from leasing by the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920." -
Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act of 1973 Passed to Increase Domestic Oil Supplies in Wake of Oil Embargo
"After the discovery of a large oil field in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska in 1968, U.S. Congress decided to construct a pipeline transversing Alaska as a means of transporting the oil to the nearest ice-free port at Valdez, Alaska. Congress passed the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act in 1973 as an authorization for the building of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS). -
Solar Photovoltaic Energy Research, Development, and Demonstration Act of 1978
"I am signing today H.R. 12874, the Solar Photovoltaic Energy Research, Development, and Demonstration Act of 1978, a bill that authorizes an aggressive program of research, development, and demonstration of solar photovoltaic energy technologies. The bill's long-term goal is to make electricity from photovoltaic systems economically competitive with electricity from conventional source.
