ENERGY: SIDE 1 OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL SQUARE

As our review of military history pointed out, for the better part of 5,000 years,
animate labor provided most of the energy for human endeavors. With the minor
exceptions of wood burning for heat and cooking, waterwheels for grain grinding,
windmills for water pumping, and isolated uses of coal and natural gas, the world
ran on animate labor (humans and animals).

Energy development can be summarized by major technological impacts: discovery
of fire (prehistory), development of external combustion engines (typified by
the steam engine, 1750 to 1770), development of internal combustion engines (typified
by the automobile engine, 1870 to 1890), commercialization and mass distribution
of electricity (1910 to 1930), and harnessing of nuclear power (1940 to 1960).
Each of these major developments changed both the living patterns and the fundamental
fuel sources/requirements of society.

The invention and application of the steam engine (1765) increased energy
consumption dramatically, providing physical leverage far beyond animate labor.
Early in the twentieth century, two additional energy developments, electricity and
internal combustion engines, allowed large quantities of energy to be distributed to
the populace and provided transportation for the masses. These technologies
increased fuel consumption for predominantly hydrocarbon-based systems.

The most recent key development in energy is nuclear electric power generation, providing
even greater energy density and generating capacities to meet the needs of growing
communities. An energy techonomic metric for an historical perspective tracks per
capita annual energy consumption through the years. The greatest increases in per
capita consumption have occurred as new technologies made it possible to consume
greater amounts in the pursuit of improved standards of living. The TM for energy
increases coincident with the spread of steam power, the deployment of internal
combustion engines and the availability of electricity.

Harnessing energy to magnify human effort brought many related changes to
society. Transportation, construction, agriculture, military endeavors, and ultimately
computation were transformed by the availability of copious and new distribution
forms of energy. As portions of the populace were freed from physical labor, mental
endeavors increased — which in turn resulted in further technologic advances.
Techonomic metrics for comparing current energy production methods must
consider many elements, including:
• Fuel cost (unit energy costs for extraction, transport, refinement)
• Conversion cost (unit energy costs for plant capital and operations costs
to convert fuel from chemical/nuclear form into mechanical or electrical
energy)
• Environmental/regulatory cost (unit energy costs for environmental protection
of air, water, or containment of waste products)
• Mobility factor (suitability for stationary or mobile applications)
The sum of the fuel cost, the conversion cost, and the environmental cost per
unit of delivered energy provides the comparative techonomic metric for energy.
The mobility factor is a “go” or “no go” determination of fitness for an intended
purpose.