S S I NG E N E R G Y Y N ERG RN E A H H A R N ESSING E COAL POWER BY DIANE BAILEY CREATIVE DIGITAL
I N T R O D U C T I O N PEACE AND WAR WEALTH AND POVERTY PROGRESS AND SETBACKS HISTORY HAS BROUGHT HUGE SWINGS IN THE HUMAN CONDITION AND WITH EVERY CHOICE PEOPLE MAKE THERE IS THE POTENTIAL TO MOVE FORWARD OR STEP BACKWARD AT THE CORE OF THIS CONTINUAL STRUGGLE HAS BEEN THE QUEST FOR ENERGY ENERGY GAVE HUMANS POWER AND MOTIVATED THEM TO DO GREAT THINGS WITH BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EFFECTS WITHOUT ENERGY PEOPLE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO DRIVE CARS OPERATE COMPUTERS OR POWER FACTORIES WARS ARE FOUGHT TRYING TO DOMINATE SOURCES OF ENERGY FORTUNES ARE MADE AND LOST DEPENDING ON HOW THAT ENERGY IS MANAGED THE LAWS OF PHYSICS STATE THAT ENERGY CANNOT BE CREATED OR DESTROYED THAT IS TRUE BUT ENERGY CAN BE HARNESSED AND DIRECTED IT CAN BE WASTED OR IT CAN BE COAXED INTO EFFICIENCY CIVILIZATIONS AND TECHNOLOGIES HAVE LEAPED FORWARD AND SOMETIMES BACKWARD AS HUMANS HAVE TAPPED INTO EARTH’S SOURCES OF ENERGY The coal we use today took millions of years to form 4
Coal could be called the granddaddy of the fossil fuels Societies the world over have used it for thousands of years It was humans first introduc tion to the wealth of energy buried in the earth As coal became ever present in daily life people developed a love-hate relationship with it Some thought it provided protection against the bubonic plague Others blamed it for making people cranky and bald and with bad teeth to boot Coal smoke choked the air and its grimy dust clung to everything but the reward was that it changed cold into heat and brought light to the dark ness Threaded through the earth’s crust like ribbons this humble black rock lumps of compressed carbon opened the door to new technologies new economies and ultimately a transformed world 5
