Chasing the dark

Maybe I've been thinking about this as we're just a few days after leaving 'daylight savings time'. It seems we've (humans, at the least) have been working forever at chasing away the dark - or making it possible to work inside (and not just simply go to sleep when it gets dark). Some think the first lamps were mini-fires which burned grasses and other found stuff as fuel - using animal fats as fire starters -or even as fuel. Think: bees wax, whale oil (poor whales - with beeswax and lanolin the animals were stolen from not hunted fiercely). We've used fuel for maybe 2 million years. That's basically forever.

OK - fuel is stuff that has stored energy - chemical energy to be more specific. The stored energy is potential energy.  So, being smart about fuel is about physics AND chemistry. The lighting comes from the combustion of the stuff. Most of what we've used are hydrocarbons. Can be solid, liquid, or gas. All coming from plants or animals (really?). Which means I'm excluding batteries. Charcoal (was once wood) has been found to be used since maybe 8000 years ago. Gas extracted from coal became useful in the 1800s.

Fossil fuels are more concentrated than other hydrocarbon sources, whence the huge interest in them as we proceeded beyond the Industrial Revolution. As fossil fuel use now comes with many complaints with respect to huge social problems (and this includes impacts on accelerating climate warming). This has spurred interest in what is called biofuel. Still hydrocarbons.

Lamps first (maybe) were some sort of small bowl to contain the mini-fires. Humans work on lamp design follows human development of fuels. Improving one means the other in also improved. Unimportant to me which comes first. (Also ignoring torches - those are just a sub-category, right?). Improvements include changes to maximize output while minimizing fuel use - and also thinking about safety and control. And, the aesthetics. Today, the price range at Pottery Barn is from $1700 to $200, with most around $400 (maybe). Electric lamps - well, electricity is derived from other energy including hydropower, wind, and nuclear fuels in addition to hydrocarbons.

Using gas fuels started in the early 1800s, which meant that gas fuels were delivered to the end users. I have to learn about the piping of gas into homes for lighting. Wondering if our old house was fitted with gas pipes / fixtures during or after its construction (around 1840).

Next for info on various technological developments around lamps and fuels, which occurred rapidly and launched the Industrial Revolution. And, this means a foray into Colonialization and Imperialization.





3 fossil fuels = coal, natural gas, crude oil (petroleum)
coal was once plants
petroleum was one plants and animals, thought to be plankton and zoo plankton
petroleum gas = butane, propane (derived from petroleum)
natural gas = methane
petroleum = naturally liquid material found in rocks

Interesting Reading and some Sources:
Coal and Oil Formation (animation) 
Illuminating Engineering Society 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel
History of Gasification (hope my text is easier to read)