DAY 26 – BASIC REQUIREMENT: ENERGY SUPPLY

I went to a wild west show that replicated what life was like in the eighteenth century. The homes people lived in, schools children attended, places people worked at, means of transportation and the lifestyles people had were so different compared to today. Their world had its limitations and one of those limitations resulted from the types of energy sources available to them.

Just like living beings require water and food to power our bodies, the ability of human beings to function in a modern world is fully dependent upon advanced sources of power. When it is dark we require lights in our homes, offices, schools and streets in order to see. To run our manufacturing facilities that make the products we use we need machines connected to electrical outlets. Our cars, trains, buses, airplanes and ships that move people and products require a fuel source for them to run. Having heat when it is cold and cool air when it is warm in our buildings we need a source of energy for it. To keep certain foods fresh we need a refrigerator connected to a source of energy that enables the refrigerator to work. Having information available to us as well as staying in contact with people we know we need a source of power for our televisions, radios, computers and iphones. Making scientific discoveries that advance human progress we often use equipment that is connected to electrical outlets.

Even those who live in regions that do not have the amenities of a modern world need some source of energy. The simplest of tasks becomes so much easier if they can have stoves to cook on, lighting in their homes to move about and schools that teach their children.

After thinking about how the world of today is so different than that of the nineteenth century, I now realize that an energy supply is a necessity for humanity. Those of us who live in a modern world could not have or do the things that make our lives easier, better and more enjoyable without it. Those who are the poorest of the poor that live without or have limited resources of energy are short changed in what is possible for them.