Michigan Renewable Energy Success Stories

The History of Renewable Energy Use

Ancient Civilizations

During the 6,000 years of human civilization, we have met our energy needs from renewable sources. The sun caused our crops and forests to grow. It dried the crops we harvested to prepare them for storage. Wood heated our homes and cooked our food. It melted glass and metals for craftsmen. Our muscles and those of domesticated animals, fed by our solar-grown crops, did a variety of work. Wind moved our ships. Later, wind and rivers powered our mills to grind grains and manufacture paper and other products. Only when the forests were cut down faster than they could grow back, did anyone think about "running out" of energy.

The ancient Greeks built their homes with large, south facing windows to collect more of the winter sun's heat and light. Dark stone floors and thick masonry absorbed the heat of the sun during the day and slowly released this warmth at night when it became cooler. Well-designed overhangs would allow the sun in to heat the homes in the winter but shade out the sun in summer. As their experience grew, the Greeks even applied these principles to high-density housing and built several solar cities including Olynthus and Priene.²⁴

In ancient Colorado, the Mesa Verde people built their homes under an overhanging cliff so that during winter, when the sun is low in the sky, sunlight could enter the structure and heat it directly, but during the summer when the sun is high in the sky, the cliff shields the settlement from the harshness of the sun, keeping it relatively cool.25 This kind of design is still in use today, but with our better windows and insulation, it’s even more effective.

The History of Renewable Energy Use

Fossil Fuels – A Short Blip in History

24 Manjunath Hathwar, Centre for Research in Alternate Systems of Energy, http://mhathwar.tripod.com/thesis/solar/a_historical_perspective.html, (8-Feb-2003).

25 http://mhathwar.tripod.com/thesis/solar/a_historical_perspective.html, (8-Feb-2003).

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