Smil Vaclav. Energy and Civilization: A History

Boston: The MIT Press, 2017. — 568 p. — ISBN: 9780262035774, 0262035774.Energy is the only universal currency; it is necessary for getting anything done. The conversion of energy on Earth ranges from terra-forming forces of plate tectonics to cumulative erosive effects of raindrops. Life on Earth depends on the photosynthetic conversion of solar energy into plant biomass. Humans have come to rely on many more energy flows -- ranging from fossil fuels to photovoltaic generation of electricity -- for their civilized existence. In this monumental history, Vaclav Smil provides a comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel--driven civilization. Humans are the only species that can systematically harness energies outside their bodies, using the power of their intellect and an enormous variety of artifacts -- from the simplest tools to internal combustion engines and nuclear reactors. The epochal transition to fossil fuels affected everything: agriculture, industry, transportation, weapons, communication, economics, urbanization, quality of life, politics, and the environment. Smil describes humanity's energy eras in panoramic and interdisciplinary fashion, offering readers a magisterial overview. This book is an extensively updated and expanded version of Smil's Energy in World History (1994). Smil has incorporated an enormous amount of new material, reflecting the dramatic developments in energy studies over the last two decades and his own research over that time.Preface and Acknowledgments.
Energy and Society.
Flows, Stores, and Controls.
Gravity and the habitability of Earth.
Concepts and Measures.
Diminishing utility of converted energy.
Measuring energy and power.
Energy densities of foodstuffs and fuels.
Power densities of phytomass fuels.
Efficiency improvements and the Jevons paradox.
Comparison of energy returns in food production.
Energy intensities of common materials.
Energy returns on energy investment.
Complexities and Caveats.
Calculating the net energy cost of human labor.
Energy in Prehistory.
Wood consumption in open-fire cooking of meat.
Foraging Societies.
Harvesting Brazil nuts.
Running and heat dissipation by humans.
Extinction of the Late Pleistocene megafauna.
Body masses, energy densities, and food energy content of hunted animals.
Food preferences and attitudes toward work.
Net energy returns in foraging.
Alaskan whalers.
Origins of Agriculture.
Energy costs and population densities in shifting cultivation.
Nomadic pastoralists.
Traditional Farming.
Commonalities and Peculiarities.
Field Work.
The Dominance of Grains.
Energy density and carbohydrate and protein content of principal grains.
Labor and energy requirements in traditional farming.
Cereal milling.
Cropping Cycles.
Routes to Intensification.
Draft Animals.
Typical weights, drafts, working speeds, and power of domestic animals.
Comparing harnesses and draft power.
Energy cost, efficiency, and performance of a draft horse.
Irrigation.
Power requirements, lifts, and capacities of traditional water-lifting devices.
Energy returns of wheat irrigation.
Fertilization.
Crop Diversity.
Persistence and Innovation.
Ancient Egypt.
China.
Nitrogen content of organic materials recycled in China.
Net energy return of fertilization.
Mesoamerican Cultures.
Raised fields in the basin of Mexico.
Europe.
Labor requirements of European wheat harvests, 200–1800.
North America.
Labor requirements (human/animal) in hours/hectare and the energy cost of American.
wheat, 1800–1900.
The Limits of Traditional Farming.
Feeding America’s draft horses.
Achievements.
Nutrition.
Limits.
Preindustrial Prime Movers and Fuels.
Prime Movers.
Raising Alexander’s column.
Animate Power.
Work, force, and distance.
Working on a treadmill.
Draft horses in urban transportation.
Water Power.
Power of undershot wheels.
Power of overshot waterwheels.
Barbegal waterwheels.
Wind Power.
Wind energy and power.
Biomass Fuels.
Wood and Charcoal.
Energy content of biomass fuels.
Wood consumption in the Roman Empire.
Crop Residues and Dung.
Household Needs.
Food Preparation.
Lucius Apuleius (Metamorphoses IX, 12, 3.4) on Roman mill slaves.
Heat and Light.
Transportation and Construction.
Moving on Land.
Energy cost of Roman roads.
Oared Ships and Sail Ships.
Ancient canal transportation.
Sails and sailing near the wind.
Portuguese voyages of discovery.
Contribution of sail ships to Dutch energy use.
Buildings and Structures.
Brunelleschi’s ingenious machines.
Energy cost of the Great Pyramid.
Rome’s Pantheon.
Metallurgy.
Nonferrous Metals.
Fuelwood needs for Roman copper and silver smelting at Rio Tinto.
Tensile strength and hardness of common metals and alloys.
Iron and Steel.
Fuel needs of an eighteenth-century English blast furnace.
Energy needs in British and American iron production.
Warfare.
Animate Energies.
Kinetic energy of swords and arrows.
Prussian supplies and animals for the Russian invasion.
Explosives and Guns.
Fossil Fuels, Primary Electricity, and Renewables.
Fossil fuels.
The Great Transition.
The Beginnings and Diffusion of Coal Extraction.
An Inquiry Into the Condition of the Women Who Carry Coals Under Ground in Scotland,
Known by the Name of BEARERS.
From Charcoal to Coke.
Steam Engines.
Watt’s 1769 patent.
Watt and Boulton delay the development of a steam carriage.
Mass/power ratio of steam engines and a Megatherium.
Oil and Internal Combustion Engines.
The first modern car.
The first flights.
Electricity.
Diesel’s engine: The intent and the outcome.
Faraday’s discovery of electromagnetic induction.
Edison’s electrical system.
Transforming electricity and transmission losses.
Technical Innovations.
Coals.
Hydrocarbons.
Chinese coal production.
Giant oil tankers.
Electricity.
Reliability of electricity supply.
Renewable Energies.
Prime Movers in Transportation.
Fossil-Fueled Civilization.
Unprecedented Power and Its Uses.
Efficiency of household heating.
Energy in Agriculture.
Energy costs of nitrogenous fertilizers.
Industrialization.
From experiments with steel cutting to Japan’s car exports.
Growth and mass and energy balances of blast furnaces.
Transportation.
Cars as mechatronic machines.
Volkswagen and other durable models.
Information and Communication.
Boeing and Airbus.
Invention of integrated circuits.
Energy embodied in mobile phones and cars.
Economic Growth.
Declining energy intensity of economic growth.
Consequences and Concerns.
Urbanization.
Power densities of traditional urban energy supply and use.
Quality of Life.
Importance of electricity for easing housework.
Political Implications.
Weapons and Wars.
Kinetic energy of projectiles propelled by explosives.
Kinetic energy of explosive devices.
Firebombing of Tokyo, March 9–10, 1945.
Maximum energy of explosive weapons.
Casualties of modern wars.
Environmental Changes.
Greenhouse gases and rising tropospheric temperature.
Energy in World History.
Grand Patterns of Energy Use.
Energy Eras and Transitions.
Persistence of animate power.
Long-Term Trends and Falling Costs.
Efficiency and efficacy of lighting.
Energy subsidies.
What Has Not Changed?
Business cycles and energy.
Between Determinism and Choice.
Imperatives of Energy Needs and Uses.
The Importance of Controls.
The Limits of Energy Explanations.
Electricity’s promise that never ends.
Addenda.
Basic Measures.
Scientific Units and Their Multiples and Submultiples.
Basic SI units.
Other units used in the text.
Multiples used in the International System of Units.
Submultiples used in the International System of Units.
Chronology of Energy-Related Developments.
BCE.
CE.
Power in History.
Power ratings: From a candle to global civilization.
Maximum power of prime movers in field work, 1700–2015.
Maximum power of prime movers in land transportation, 1700–2015.
Average annual consumption (GJ/capita) of primary energy.
Bibliographical Notes.Name Index.
Subject Index.