Grains and Gains
What 3 qualities make grain such a good energy source for humans?
high carb, moderate protein, high yield crop
According to Vaclav Smil, what is a "fundamental distinguishing characteristic" of the human species?
What is the harnessing of energy outside of our bodies? Bonus: what is a word for those energies?
In the 1500s-mid 1600s coal use in Britain skyrocketed. Name one reason why
timber shortages, increased production of iron
The move from foraging to farming impacted human physical evolution. Using 2,000 human remains from a span of 33,000 years, scientists showed that when foraging decreased, so did this quality of the human leg bone
What is bending strength?
What is "white gold"? and what percentage of Europe's economy did it make up in the 1700s?
sugar, 30%
While the gathering of nuts, roots, fruits, eggs, etc. was a daily activity in foraging societies, this activity happened only episodically and did not always results in net energy gains
what is hunting?
Name two "routes of intensification" in traditional farming practices
What challenge did coal miners face as mines were dug deeper and deeper?
groundwater incursion
What technology supercharged the movement from coal to oil as a primary fuel in the U.S.?
What do many anthropologist argue was the first modern energy infrastructure?
The trans-Atlantic slave trade
Approximately what percentage of the energy of the plant matter consumed by a grazing animal is turned into zoomass?
What is 30%?
The adoption of intensified farming practices happened over the course of 5,000 year. What reluctancies prevented cultures from adopting these practices?
Fear, relationships with the land, tradition, lack of need
Who made the first steam engine powered by coal and used at coal mines in Britain?
Thomas Newcommen
In the 18th century, oil was skimmed off of lakes and sold as a medicinal "Seneca oil" from what U.S. state?
Pennsylvania
At the end of class, we watched a short animation called "energy blind." What did the creators of the animation mean when they said that human have become "energy blind"?
We do not see the energy needed for many of the things that we do.
As farming practices intensified, what else grew?
population densities
Smil claims that "both prehistoric human evolution and he course of human history can be seen as the quest for controlling greater stores and flows of more concentrated and more versatile forms of energy and converting them, in more affordable ways at lower costs and with higher efficiencies, into heat, light, and motion." Is he right?
:)
In 1768 Jamaica, where were early steam engines used?
On sugar plantations
In 1901 a Texas landowner struck oil while drilling wells on his land. The oil well produced 100,000 barrels of oil for 9 days straight. This well was called the (BLANK) gusher
Spindletop
What priorities and practices are embedded in our current energy systems?
Progress, growth, use of violence to protect fuel sources, intensification, accumulation