August 14, 2013

Congratulations to Jose Saravia for winning 2nd Place in the Consumer Energy Alliance-Energy Day Essay Contest.  Jose wrote an original essay entitled "An Energized World" that told the story of Energy through a narrative about a grandson asking his grandfather about the history of Energy.  His unique take won him a second place trophy and a Visa Gift Card valued at $150.00 donated by HESS Energy.  Congratulations to Jose for representing Energy Institute's class of 2018 by placing 2nd in this challenge!  If you would like to read Jose's essay, it is printed below.

"An Energized World" By Jose Saravia

The lights turn on, cars overcrowd the highway and the sky glitters with a light hue of orange. A boy asked his grandpa, "How did we get this far?" "It all started with the sun, it gave us comfort and warmth, and it helped grow the plants and animals we ate, to survive. We used fire, but it took us time to learn how to use it, but once we did, we ushered in the Stone, Bronze and Iron Age. During does 10,000 years, humans created Cultures, towns, music, art and tools."

"Wow!" the boy stated. "But that sounds nothing like today." "Around the early AD's we discovered coal. We still hadn't decoded the secrets a black rock consisting of carbonized plant will control the world up to today. We used coal to create and connected our world during the industrial revolution. During the 20th century, we discovered oil and natural gas it controlled the history of humanity during the 20th century, we flew to the skies, we walked on the moon, and we shrank the world. During the 2000s when I was a child the world was still controlled by fossil fuels.

"Grandpa, are you going to talk about your old stories," the boy said. "A revolution had started, our world was again changed, and we knew our precious fossil fuels were running out, but the question was when. We wanted something sustainable, around the world a shift to renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, hydroelectric, biomass and geothermal occurred. With it the days of wars over oil and the fear of losing our modern way of life were over. It now powers the world economy, we have huge farms harvesting energy and our whole life revolves around it. All a product of our insatiable need for energy.