It may seem odd to consider "historical relevance" under a heading of "Development" which assumes future outcomes. Not unlike prospecting for gold, many prospectors made good on returning to prior claims to re-process expended tailings left behind from the more convenient high volume processing. As new methods of extracting finer particles emerged the values discovered in many abandoned sites provided second generation riches.
Unfortunately the current state of energy dependence reflects what has been a loss of education relating to history itself. Most survivalists will understand the basic constructs of survival are Shelter, Water, Fire and Food, almost always by that order of priority. In many if not most post-industrial developing countries, asking this question of those still in school, will fail to answer this question accurately. They have no context with a need to consider rudimentary survival.
Think about what that means for a minute. Convenience as it has evolved and increased through succeeding generations has become a norm, an "assumed" way of life for many. Curricula in schools today rarely provides education on past struggles for survival. When the need to benefit reversing the mistakes of recent decades confronts youth, they have no context of comparison by which to anchor decision priorities. The food is at the store. The gas is at the pump. The car is in the driveway. The heat and air conditioning are automatic. The cell phone is all I really need. The bottom line is current generations now take the known essentials for granted replacing them with developed convenience.
Why it matters:
This unsettling curve invites growing generations which make mistakes in both life-style choices as well as governance, which opens the doors of polar extremes like assuming fossil fuels aren't all that bad, to the alternative of wind turbines, solar cells and batteries; a false solution, inadequate to solve the problem, adding new unforeseen consequences in time. The invitation is to grab for the most convenient solution to any perceived need with the least invested effort. Most times this doesn't lead to a solution but deeper complication and short fall.
A trip in the time machine is called for. Many who visit the site here are unaware that during World War II, transportation during energy embargoes was offset by burning wood onboard military vehicles which extracted volatile gasses to keep military motion working near the front lines. While the technology never evolved it was mostly due to the convenience fossil fuel provided by comparison to the struggles of using unrefined wood as fuel.
The efforts to further develop plant-based fuels basically died on the fire of fossil fuel emissions and climate instability which have now decades later left us hunting for sustainable renewable solutions. Basically the engineering and development of many past discoveries has never been re-examined to uncover hidden benefit. The increasing rush toward convenience many times in our past has cost humanity many oversights a more modern society today overlooks simply as assumptions not well thought out.
Carbon Analytic has identified the first priority in development to be a process of historical research for these oversights of undiscovered potential. While it may not always pay rich dividends, one doesn't know if one doesn't try.
The concept of developing refinement of plant-based energy resources combined with sustaining combustion as the most reliable form of energy is a reliable solution. The technologies developing these solutions have gained recent resurgence in new studies among higher education.
Carbon Analytic will always support the need for academic reach and historical learning in hopes of encouraging those in education. There is a need to not leave the past behind, but to document the lessons learned and teach the preservation of history that we not repeat past mistakes. It's up to educators to find ways to make these studies interesting, thought provoking and to stimulate creativity to anchor the learning to the basics with priority to uncover the hidden gems we have overlooked.
