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Solar Energy
The earliest known record of the direct conversion of solar radiation into mechanical power belongs to Auguste Mouchout. By the following year he was granted the first patent for a motor running on solar power and continued to improve his design until about 1880. During this period the inventor laid the foundation for our modern understanding of converting solar radiation into mechanical steam power. (http://energyquest.ca.gov/time_machine/time_machine_date_test.php?begYear=1860&endYear=1870) -
Pearl Street Power Station
Thomas Edison (United States) opened the Pearl Street power station in New York City. The power station was one of the world's first central electric power plants and could power 5,000 lights. It used a direct current (DC) power system, unlike the power systems that we use today which use alternating current (AC). -
First Windmill to Generate Electricity Developed in Cleveland, Ohio
Charles F. Brush develops the world's first windmill that can generate electricity as described in an 1890 issue of Scientific American: "With the exception of the gigantic windmill and electric plant shown... we do not know of a successful system of electric lighting operated by means of wind power. -
Worlds First Flex Fuel Vehicle, the Ford Model-T, Goes into Mass Production
"Ethanol-fueled vehicles date back to the 1880s when Henry Ford designed a car that ran solely on ethanol. He later built the first flex fuel vehicle: a 1908 Model T designed to operate on either ethanol or gasoline." -
World's First Geothermal District Heating System Built in Boise, Idaho
"The Geysers [72 miles north of San Francisco] were discovered in the early 1800's but were an untapped energy source for many years... [In 1921] John D. Grant drilled a geothermal well and ran a small direct-current generator which was used to provide electricity for lighting The Geysers resort. However, because the materials used at that time could not withstand the geothermal steam environment and because of the difficulties of drilling for geothermal steam. -
Hoover Dam, the World's Largest Hydroelectric Power Plant, Is Built
Hoover Dam is completed on the Colorado River in Arizona in 1935, four years after construction began in 1931. At the time of its completion, the Hoover Dam was the largest hydroelectric producer in the world. The dam remains the largest producer of hydroelectricity in the world until 1948. -
General Electric (GE) Develops Hydrogen Fuel Cells to Generate Electricity for Apollo and Gemini Space Missions
"General Electric [GE] developed workable proton-exchange membrane cells [aka fuel cells] for use as power supplies in the Apollo and Gemini space missions. The cells were big and very expensive, but they performed faultlessly, delivering an unwavering supply of current as well as a very useful byproduct in space, drinkable fresh water. -
Niagara Falls Hydropower Station
The Niagara Falls hydropower station opened. It originally provided electricity to the local area. One year later, when a new alternating current (AC) powerline was opened, electric power from Niagara Falls was sent to customers over 20 miles away in Buffalo, New York. -
Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 Passed to Allow the Leasing of Federal Land for Geothermal Energy Development
"To encourage the development of geothermal energy [energy generated by the heat of the earth], the United States government passed the Geothermal Steam Act in 1970 allowing the leasing of land containing geothermal resources; however, Congress excluded any lands within the National Park System, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lands, and any other lands prohibited from leasing by the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920." -
First Silicon Solar Cell Developed at Bell Laboratories
"In 1953, Bell Laboratories (now AT&T labs) scientists Gerald Pearson, Daryl Chapin and Calvin Fuller developed the first silicon solar cell capable of generating a measurable electric current. The New York Times reported the discovery as 'the beginning of a new era, leading eventually to the realization of harnessing the almost limitless energy of the sun for the uses of civilization.'"
