Energy: The Life Blood of Society

Energy is the life blood of any society. A primitive society has fewer people with shorter life spans and requires more physical labor than an industrial society.  An industrial society uses more diverse and concentrated energy sources than a primitive society. It extracts that energy using reliable and economical methods.

Until James Watts developed the steam engine in the 1700's, industrial society did not really exist.  His steam engine replaced animals and humans to remove water from mines. To power his steam engine Watts used coal; today’s hated and condemned fossil fuel.

Before Watts developed his crude, inefficient but working steam engine, machines and transportation were propelled by human or animal power. Ships used wind and sailed when the wind blew and when it didn’t blow they waited.  Energy sources of the time were renewable: wind, solar, wood, water, human and animal power.  By today belief’s these energy sources are sustainable, non polluting and our future.  Should they be?

The energy sources of the industrial society are nuclear, coal, natural gas, oil and hydro with small quantities of solar, wind and other `sustainable’ sources.  Except for the `sustainable’ energy sources, the others are condemned as polluting, unsustainable, destroying the environment, and detrimental to humans.  Yet what have these energy sources provided to humans?

They have provided abundant food and an increased lifespan through cleaner water, cleaner food and medical research.  They have provided leisure time and the opportunity to spend your life performing productive work you can enjoy, rather than work that must be done to survive.  Are these features bad, if so, why?

Today there is the constant demand, being implemented by government force, to replace these energy sources with wind, solar, animal droppings and other `sustainable’ sources. Can industrial society be maintained with these energy sources? Hardly! 

The extolled renewable energy sources can only support primitive societies for two reasons: the energy sources are very diluted, therefore producing little power; and they fail to provide power on demand, when required.  The wind must blow and the sun must shine to produce power. 

The fossil fuels and nuclear power are concentrated sources of energy. Their heat content can be released to generate power when required, thus electricity flows when air conditioning is desired and when medical instruments must monitor.   With wind and solar, demand is irrelevant, power is available on their schedule, not people’s schedule.

All energy sources, nuclear, fossil and renewable have fascinating aspects; these will be discussed in future blogs.