The History of Energy and What Has Brought Us to the Green Solution

Unfortunately for the earth, we didn't just start using fossil fuels yesterday. Records of humans using petroleum can be traced back as far as 3000 B.C. with the Mesopotamians—residing in modern day Iraq—using petroleum for ship caulking and building roads. Varied records of coal being used during the Bronze Age, as well as during Roman occupation also exist.

Understanding the long history of our use of non-renewable fuel sources is needed to give you a point of reference to discuss the emergence of green energy.

Check out the overview of the history of energy below, gathered from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

2000 B.C.	Chinese refined petroleum for heating homes and lamps.
200 B.C.	Chinese used natural gas to produce salt from brine (basically salt water).
Approx. 600 B.C.	Thales, widely considered the "father of science," discovered static electricity.
250 - 400 A.D.	The first water-powered mill in France was built by the Romans.
600 A.D.	Arab and Persian chemists use petroleum to make "Greek fire," a burning liquid later utilized to a great degree by the Byzantine Empire.
Between 500 and 900 AD	The Persians first built windmills for pumping water and grinding grain.
Late 1500s	The United States becomes firmly entrenched in importing coal for use, consuming nearly 108,000 tons until the 1800's.
1700s	Ben Franklin made important discoveries into the nature of electricity by flying a kite.
1800-1826	First electric utility in the United States.
Mid-1800s to around 1950	Wood is a primary resource for fuel, though it's use for functions outside of heating decreased in the 20th century with the shift back to coal.
1870-1880	First combustion engine is created using gas and alcohol. Thomas Edison's Pearl Street Station opened shortly thereafter, the first U.S. power plant to produce electricity.
1888	First wind turbine is used to generate electricity in Cleveland, Ohio.
Early 1900s	The Italians began using geothermal energy to produce electricity commercially.
1938	German scientists discovered nuclear fission.
1940-1950	The Atomic Energy Act, the adoption of electricity (0.6 percent) and natural gas (25 percent) as main energy sources in businesses and homes, and the first electricity produced from nuclear power are just some the of the events scattered across this decade.
1950s	First silicon solar cell for solar photovoltaic energy is invented.
1960s	National Environmental Policy Act and Clean Air Act are the initial push in policy to recognize the importance of understanding natural resources and the ecosystem. The Clean Air Act was very significant in the U.S. government devoting close attention to the effects of air pollution.
1970s	Department of Energy (DOE) is formed and the Natural Gas Policy Act decreased price control at the wellhead (move to deregulation). In 1972, the Clean Water Act established standards for controlling waste discharge from power plants.
1974	The National Renewable Energy Laboratory began researching and supporting the development of renewable energy.
1980s	First wind farm built in the United States, with more than 2,200 megawatts of wind energy eventually produced in California, which was nearly half of global production at the time.
1990s	Over 50 percent of U.S. homes were heated with natural gas. A astronomical 99 percent of all homes also had color TVs.
Moving to the Green Millennium	As of 2007, 24 states have adopted policies to increase the production of renewable energy. The two largest wind farms in the world reside in Texas, both combining to produce nearly 1,240 megawatts of wind power, enough to power thousands of homes.

For more information on the history of energy, you can go to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) Web site.

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