6 LAW WISE | OCTOBER 2021
History of Alternative Energy Sources in the United States Ethanol and Biofuels In 1937 in Atchison, Kansas the biofuel Agrol debuted. A Midwestern product primarily, it used the slogan “try a tankful —you’ll be thankful.” The product was used from Indiana to South Dakota. Promotional material noted it was “made from American Farm Products.” Two types of fuel were available that Agrol 5 with between five to seven percent alcohol and Agrol 10 with 12% to nearly 18% alcohol. At its peak, Agrol could be found at over 2000 service stations across the greater Midwest. Atchison has the distinction of being the first ethanol plant in the U.S. However, the origin of ethanol and related biofuels stretches back a century earlier. Before the discovery of petroleum in Pennsylvania, the predominant fuel was camphene, also known as “burning fluid.” This fuel blended ethyl alcohol with 20% to 50% turpentine, which colored the fuel. Camphor oil was added to mitigate the turpentine odor. Distilleries during this era sold 33% to 80% of their product for fuel use. In 1834, S. Casey of Lebanon, Maine received the first patent employing alcohol as a lighting fuel. By 1860, distilleries produced more than 90 million gallons of alcohol as a fuel for lighting. During the Civil War, in a move to fund the war, President Lincoln added a two dollar Spirits Tax which included ethanol. This tax effectively ended the use of ethanol as fuel source for nearly 45 years. Searching for an alternative for oil, President Teddy Roosevelt lobbied Congress to repeal the tax on ethanol. By the end of World War I, ethanol production reached 50 million gallons a year. Within the next few years, research demonstrated the superiority of alcohol to gasoline as a fuel source. Over 2000 tests conducted by the U.S. Geological Service and the U.S. Navy claimed much higher engine compression ratios were achieved by using alcohol instead of gasoline. Though his name is today synonymous with petroleum diesel fuel, this was not the original aim of Rudolph Diesel, who did pioneering work on building an engine for the French government that would run on peanut oil. The French government planned to use these vegetable fuels in their colonial holdings around the world. Dr. Diesel died in 1913 shortly after the widespread availability of petroleum. This resulted in the invention to match the properties of petroleum diesel fuel. In 2008, President Bush and the Department of Energy unveiled the National Biofuels Action Plan to help create a sustainable biofuel industry. Wind Power Wind power for water-pumping windmills greatly aided
the settlement of the American West. The abundant wind allowed for the retrieval of groundwater in these dry regions. Daniel Halladay’s model allowed him to form Halladay Wind Mill Company in 1857. The development of Halladay’s Wind Mill coincided with the construction of the transcontinental railroad as the water powered the locomotives. Additionally, western settlers made ample use of this technology. One estimate puts the number of windmills used in the American west at this time at over six million. Approximately 30 years later, Cleveland, Ohio reported the use of the first windmill to use electricity in 1888. Known as the Brush Wind Turbine, an article published in Scientific American in 1890 noted, “[I]t has been in constant operation more than two years and has proved in every respect a complete success.” Building upon the work of Charles F. Brush, the Jacob brothers, Marcellus and Joe, started their Jacobs Wind Electric Company in 1927. For approximately 30 years, they sold over 30,000 units. In 1975, several governmental organizations funded the development of 13 wind turbines, marking the first federal involvement with wind power. In 1980, U.S. Windpower installed 20 wind turbines in New Hampshire, creating the world’s first wind farm. The company eventually filed for bankruptcy in 1996 because of issues with the turbine technology. Hydroelectric The middle and late 19th century saw the development of other energy sources beyond biofuels and wind power. In the evening on September 30, 1882, the first hydroelectric power station in North America opened in Appleton, Wisconsin. This plant initially lit three buildings, one residence and two paper mills. Citizens of Appleton described them “as bright as day.” The purchase of a second dynamo allowed for the Waverly House to be the first hotel illuminated by electric light in the western United States. Fifty years later, construction on the Hoover Dam began and the project was completed in 1935. When it opened, Hoover Dam was the largest hydroelectric producer in the world, a distinction it retained until 1948. Geothermal Boise, Idaho was home to the first geothermal heating system. Built in 1892, it created heat for 200 homes and 40 businesses in downtown Boise. Presently, Boise has four district heating systems that provide heat to over 5 million square feet of residential, business, and government spaces. Discovered in the 1800s north of San Francisco, it was only in the 1920s that John D. Grant attempted to harness
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