The United States' economic and international dominance that has remained intact since World War I will most likely disappear within the next 50 years. It is predicted that the global landscape will be highlighted by the growing power of India and China.
The cheery picture of a “new world order” envisioned by George H.W. Bush in the post- Cold War era is not the world we live in. This was intended to be an era known for its diplomacy and multilateral peacekeeping.
We were supposed to be a safer world after the US's defeat of Soviet Russia. That is not the world we live in. In fact, the world has become more volatile with the rise of terrorism and the spread of rogue fascist governments and socialist dictatorships. If the world no longer has the clashing superpowers vying for dominance, then why is the world not a safer, more Utopian society? The answer is energy. [1]
Historically, Man first relied on fire, technically termed “thermal energy.” Man harnessed this power with tools of flint and steel. The next step for Man came about with the power of the animals to push his plows and carry him longer distances than his own legs could. This is kinetic energy, the power of motion. Animal power was followed by steam power, the combustion engine, and the Industrial Revolution. The idea of an energy policy is born in this era around the late 1700s.
While Britain, the leader of the Industrial Revolution, did not develop the steam engine, or the external combustion engine, they developed more energy efficient techniques during the late 16- to early 1700s. During the era of the steam engine, Britain dominated the world and zealously guarded their exclusive knowledge of the steam engine's power.
Steam engines produced thermal energy, but they also required an accelerant like coal or wood to boil the water. Britain had an abundance of coal so it was the perfect technological usage of their natural resources at the time. This was also a logistical nightmare as the British navy had to deposit massive stockpiles of coal, called coaling stations, all over the Pacific islands.
These coaling stations allowed their ships to refuel without requiring a return trip to Britain. These factors gave Britain a tremendous advantage over their rivals Spain, France, and Russia. Britain exploited its advantage as the most powerful nation by colonizing much of the world and surpassing rival France by taking control of India and Australia.
Britain's position as the dominant nation remained until the late 1800s. Electricity and the internal combustion engine were developed as nations took the next steps in energy development. The first efficient internal combustion engine was patented in London in 1854.
One may argue that electricity came from Ben Franklin's famous experiment involving a kite, key, and a lightning storm just as one may argue that the first steam engine came from 1st century Greece with the aeolipile. However, just as the aeolipile needed 1500 years to achieve its full potential, electricity did not become a practical force until the development of the cathode, transistor, and vacuum tube.
The consistent characteristic of all these types of energy is the need for fuel to maintain the production of energy. Whereas in the past, fuel was abundant because a fire could be fed logs, an animal could be fed grain, however, electricity and the internal combustion engine required certain specific and limited natural resources to fuel their energy output. This is where energy truly became subjected to politics, economics, and the laws of supply and demand.
By 1890, the world was preparing for an unknown conflict but the instability of the 19th century hovered ominously on the horizon. Britain knew that its navy was archaic and inefficient due to their ships reliance on coal. Britain redesigned its navy by replacing frigates with dreadnaughts which were faster ships with bigger guns that relied on a more efficient energy, oil.
Since Britain did not possess any oil they had to look to foreign markets to sustain their rapidly growing needs. The only developed European markets were in Russia under the control of Royal Dutch Shell. There was no logical way to transport enough oil down the Crimea to sustain Britain's need, so Britain explored elsewhere and found oil in Burma and Persia. This began a destructive legacy in world history that still remains in our present day.
The history of earth has been filled with the interplay of natural resources and conflict. While the progression from animal power to steam power, electricity and the internal combustion engine were all vital to the development of modern civilization, our reliance on particular energies have also hindered us tremendously.
Energy comes in many forms in the modern era. We rely most heavily on fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are non-renewable resources which a romantic might refer to as the gift of the dinosaurs, but in actuality is merely decomposing plants and animals. Fossil fuels are coal, petroleum, and natural gas and are what referred to as “easy energy.” It is a simple process which releases very large amounts of energy using small amounts of fuel. If you need more energy, you add more fuel.
