Why We Need Energy

Energy is an essential part of daily lives. We use energy to heat and cool our homes, schools and businesses. We use energy for lights and appliances. Energy makes our vehicles go, planes fly, boats sail, and machines run.

All living things need energy too. Plants use the light from the sun to grow. Animals and people eat the plants and use that energy that was stored. Food is fuel for our own bodies' energy needs like muscle power.

We also use our own bodies to make heat energy. When you have been running or working real hard, your body produces heat energy. When you wear clothing like a jacket in the winter, it holds that heat energy and keeps you warm.

A Brief History

The very first energy source was the sun providing heat and light during the day. Later fire was discovered by a lightning strike, producing another source of heat and light.

Thousands of years later we discovered that the wind could be harnessed and we began to use sails on our boats for transportation. Later we began to use windmills to turn water wheels for grinding grain.

Throughout history, we have made lots of discoveries using energy. Before 1850, wood was our main source of fuel for heating, cooking and producing steam for powering steam engines for the railroads. Other sources of energy were water, wind, coal and some manufactured natural gas.

Natural gas was used as early as 500BC by the Chinese. They would find natural gas leaking from the ground and use bamboo to pipe the gas for use in boiling sea water to remove the salt.

Around 1816 manufactured natural gas, made from coal, was first used for street lights in Baltimore, Maryland.

From about 1850 to 1945, coal was the main fuel source. Wood was still an important energy source for heating as well as natural gas for lighting, but water and wind were used less.

For most of the 19th century, oil and gas were our main fuel sources. Electricity was used more in the late 19th century. From about 1945 to the present, nuclear and solar energy along with water and wind play a larger role in the production of energy. Other alternative energy sources now being used today are geothermal and biomass.

Energy Conservation

Each year we are looking for more ways to conserve our energy resources like natural gas and oil because these are non-renewable fuels. That means there is a limited supply. By using renewable fuels like water for hydropower and sunlight for solar power, we can help conserve our natural resources so they don't run out.

Be sure to check out our Energy Saver section so you can become an energy super saver!