Dependence on Fossil Fuels: The Fossil Fuel Era

The global dependence on fossil fuels developed during the Industrial Revolution, two centuries of economic and social development that transformed the way modern humans work and live. Most historians agree that the Industrial Revolution began in the early 1700s in Great Britain when machinery began to replace manual labor and animal power, and fossil fuels replaced wind, water, and wood as main energy sources. Before this period in history, humans manufactured goods by hand or using very simple machines, and most people worked at their homes, which were typically located in rural areas. (more…)

New Car Tax Credit Promoting Higher Fuel Economy in Japan

new car tax credit
This latter form of new car taxes can actually serve as an impediment to higher fuel economy to the extent that increased energy efficiency is attained with high-cost technology, such as continuously variable automatic transmissions, hybrid electric vehicles drive trains, and variable valve controls, and such taxes add to the cost of these technologies. (more…)

The Future Of Renewable Fuels And Hybrids

Do we have the resources? Rudolf Diesel developed the diesel engine which ran on biodiesel vegetable oil in the late 1800s. At the time, he speculated that his discovery seemed insignificant, but later could prove to be as important as mankind’s uncovering of future energy uses for petroleum and coal tar. Given the U.S.’ rapid expansion into biofuels, it would appear his vision was correct due to the drawbacks of biofuels. But widespread adoption of biomass-based fuels is not a foregone conclusion. Two questions haunt its progress. First, will it truly reduce U.S. reliance on fossil fuels? And second, is there enough farmland to accommodate widespread production, without jeopardizing food supplies? (more…)

Energy Consumption in the United States

energy consumption US
The gradual change in the energy consumption pattern of the United States from 1860 to 1990. In the mid-1800s, biomass, principally woody biomass, supplied over 90% of U.S. energy and fuel needs, after which energy biomass consumption began to decrease as fossil fuels became the preferred energy resources. For many years, a safe illuminant had been sought as a less expensive substitute for whale oils. (more…)

Greenhouse Gases Sources and Climate Change

climate change greenhouse gases
It is of interest to examine potential sources of greenhouse gases sources or atmospheric CO2 by analysis of the global distribution of carbon in all its forms. Atmospheric carbon, which can be assumed to be essentially all in the form of CO2 (i.e., 700 Gt carbon equals 2570 Gt of CO2) comprises only about 1.6% of total global carbon, excluding lithospheric carbon. Obvious greenhouse gases sources of direct or indirect additions of CO2 to the atmosphere are therefore fossil fuel deposits, since portions of them are combusted each year as fuels, and terrestrial biomass. (more…)

How Fossil Fuels Have Affected Our Environment and Lives

fossil fuels environment
In the beginning, human progress was limited by the amount of work in single day. This is only to feed themselves and their families. At that time, the economy was largely rural as a result. In the early of 19th century, more intelligent human began to looking for energy resources to support their lives. They began to develop coal, oil, and other stored energy to supplement their prime energy source: sunlight. Sunlight energy results in overgrown plant and animal growth over huge and dispersed areas and geologic time periods. There was, and will continue to be, abundant solar energy sources available to get more fossil fuel, to do research on how to exploit these resources more efficiently, and to use them in daily life and changing their cultures. (more…)