A brief history of energy

The energy news in New England isn’t great. Electricity prices are expected to rise 9.6% this summer relative to last. The average cost of a gallon of gasoline in Massachusetts last week was $3.68, up 4% from the same period in 2013. In this recent brutal winter of polar vortexes, extreme, extended cold pushed our heating bills through the roof. And while natural gas at the central Pennsylvania hub was $3.37 per million BTUs, it was $24.09 in Boston. (This is due to a lack of pipeline capacity, a situation that towns along the northern tier of Massachusetts are striving to perpetuate).

Why the concern over energy prices? Because energy is at the very root of the economy. High energy costs destroy job growth, increase the cost of everything we consume, and act as a terribly regressive tax on the poor and middle class. Since you will be asked to make many decisions, both politically as a voter and commercially as a consumer, it is worthwhile to understand and consider energy carefully.

We are often presented with a menu of energy types with a dizzying array of sources. Wind, solar, hydroelectric, oil, natural gas, coal, biomass, nuclear, geothermal, tidal – and each with multiple variations, it’s enough to make your eyes cross. Let’s go back to basics.  

According to current thinking, the universe sprang into existence nearly 14 billion years ago in a blinding flash of pure energy. Within a fraction of a fraction of a second, this energy expanded in all directions, slowly coalesced and began to form matter. As we can tell from Hubble Space telescope images, great spiral galaxies formed, organizing and spinning and creating vast numbers of stars, each a microcosm of spinning planets and moons. The universe is a vast playground of energy, mainly star fusion and angular momentum (spin).

Let’s take a brief tour of our plethora of energy sources here on Earth.  

Solar. Our star, like all stars, creates heat and light from a process of nuclear fusion, where hydrogen atoms, under great pressure, fuse to create helium, thereby releasing energy. Deep within the star, heavier elements are produced in this enormous furnace, such as iron and uranium. Here on earth, we can collect radiated solar energy and convert it directly to electricity or use it for heating water. Solar energy is available, of course, only when the sun shines. Clouds and dark of night necessitate the use of storage or alternative energy sources.

Wind. Believe it or not, this is also fusion (solar) energy. The sun heats the land, the sea, and our atmosphere creating great currents of air. The wind blows because of the sun. If our planet hung in a dark, cold, void of space, there would be no wind.

Hydroelectric. Surprise, also fusion (solar). While some would say that this is gravitational energy, gravity is not an energy source. The water that falls must have been raised in the first place. As the sun evaporates water into the atmosphere, it eventually falls as snow or rain. Lifted by the sun, the water now flows through lakes and rivers and dams and generates electricity.

Fossil. Now you’re beginning to get it - also solar fusion. Over a billion years, the sun’s rays bathed the earth. Trillions of tons of bacteria and plankton and grasses and trees and animal life thrived, died, decayed, and became buried under hundreds and thousands of feet of rock and sand. Compressed and cooked, this biological mass stored the solar energy that originally created it in the form of natural gas, oil, and coal. Fossil fuels, because of their concentration, have an extremely high energy density which is why they are among our cheapest fuels.

Biomass. As the sun shines on corn or sugarcane or a number of other fuel crops, fusion energy is converted to organic compounds by photosynthesis. This stored solar energy can then be processed into fuel. This technology can also be adapted to bacteria and plankton. Biofuels have the potential to create cheap, plentiful fuel, but if we’re not careful, can compete with foodstocks thereby driving up food prices.

Nuclear. Yes, solar fusion energy, though not from our star. Other, older stars created radioactive elements which were incorporated into the crust of our earth when it was formed. We can mine uranium, for instance, to create power by nuclear fission. As we know from Fukushima, Three Mile Island, and Chernobyl, this presents risks. Properly managed, nuclear energy can provide vast amounts of power with no effluents other than radioactive waste (not to be minimized, this waste can be very dangerous). The holy grail of nuclear researchers is to create fusion reactors, the same as in the stars. This would be much safer and cleaner than nuclear fission.

Geothermal. Another byproduct of solar fusion. According to the Department of Energy, 80% of geothermal energy comes from the decomposition of radioactive elements in the earth’s crust (which originated in a solar furnace). The remaining 20% is residual heat from the formation of the earth 4.5 billion years ago. Geothermal energy can produce gases and pollutants from fluids withdrawn from the earth, but most geothermal plants contain emission control systems.

Tidal. There is great potential for capturing the energy of tidal currents for power generation. While opponents decry the potential impact on navigation and sea life, supporters proclaim the virtue of clean, sustainable power. Unlike solar energy, the tides run day and night. This energy source is not from solar fusion – it is much older. Look at the Hubble spiral galaxy image again. The amount of rotational energy stored in the universe is immense. Part of that energy is represented by the moon’s orbit around the earth, dragging the tides with it as it goes. Tidal energy is as old as the universe itself.

This is just a brief overview of energy and its sources. You owe it to yourself to become informed. Understand that all energy enterprises have risks and benefits. Become familiar with such concepts as reliability, renewability, and sustainability. Appreciate the impact of energy costs on jobs and the cost of living.

Energy is too important, too fundamental to our survival, to deserve less.