1977 Ad: “Exxon believes solar energy’s future is bright.”

While the 1962 Humble Oil advertisement declaring that “Each Day Humble Supplies Enough Energy to Melt 7 Million Tons of Glacier!” became a meme in the green blogosphere, I find this one more interesting.
It appears that Exxon ran a competition for solar house designers, then took out ads showcasing their work in major newspapers (at [...]

The Infrastructure Surrounds You

You need to check out this excellent VBS.tv video piece about the oil rigs of Los Angeles. Like domesticated animals, they are quiet and friendly. While you visit cupcake stands and Korean taco vendors, they pump oil from under your feet. Infrastructure rarely goes away, it just gets built on or over.
It reminds me of [...]

1962: “Each Day Humble Supplies Enough Energy to Melt 7 Million Tons of Glacier!”

Ahem. Talk about invoking the American technological sublime! Yikes.
Energy has not always been conceived the same way, at least by oil companies like Humble, a forefather of Exxon.

This giant glacier has remained unmelted for centuries. Yet the petroleum energy Humble supples—if converted into heat—could melt it at the rate of 80 tons each second! To [...]

Taking the Petroleum-Electric-Radioactive Cure

“Today, flea markets are the only places where there is the remotest chance to obtain a radioactive device designed to purify the air, apply to the body, or add radon to drinking water,” wrote Paul Frame of Oak Ridge Associated Universities in an article on Radioactive Curative Devices and Spas from the late 80s.
It’s a [...]

Gallery: The World’s First Oil Field

“We have no language at our command by which to convey to the minds of our readers any adequate idea of the agitated state at the time we saw [the well]. The gas from below was forcing up immense quantities of oil in a fearful manner and attended with noise that was terrifying… When the [...]

1974 Forecast: Oil Imports Drop to 10-13% of U.S. Energy by 1985

One of the most optimistic predictions came from Thornton Bradshaw, president of Atlantic Richfield, who thought that the U.S. could reduce its dependence on foreign oil from 18% of total energy consumption now “to perhaps as low as 15% by 1980 and possibly 10% to 13% by 1985.” Most other speakers, including Sawhill, guessed that [...]

1925 Forecast: Gasoline Depletion Within 10-20 Years

“Within the lifetime of most of the present drivers of automobiles there will be no more gasoline. It is a serious thing to contemplate, particularly from the standpoint of the manufacturer. Estimates based on the most complete data now available place the end of our gasoline supply between ten and twenty years, with the odds [...]

Producing Oil for the Motherland, Or: Chinese Anthems for Energy Independence

It’s easy enough for oil-drenched Americans to claim to rail against oil, but imagine if you really, really had no access to energy. No electricity and no liquid fuel. Just you, your muscles and whatever symbiotic organisms you could evolve to fit your needs. Welcome to being a living thing for all but the last [...]

Energy, the American Experience, Mid-70s Government Fiction

Here, we’ve just got a video produced by the Energy Research and Development Administration, the precursor to the Department of Energy. It’s actually quite a good summary of American energy usage up through the mid-70s while the film was made, but the pre-20th century bits are bizarre fiction. Watch for the  little boy in period [...]

World Oil Price Chronology – 1970-2007

Want to find interesting green tech innovations? Just look for periods with high positive acceleration.
Source: Energy Information Administration