Civilization101Blueprint

Fire and fuel

Fire, then charcoal, coal and coke, and oil: each fuel hotter, denser or easier to move than the last.

Energy Levels 0–5 4 steps written
0
Level 0 · Triage · 1 of 4 in this track

Fire, and keeping it

t0-fire Guide ×3Sheet ×16

Fire, and keeping it

Make fire from nothing, then never make it from nothing again.

Needs first: nothing — start with bare hands.

  • Guide Fire, Poisons, Energy sources
  • Build none yet
  • Sheets 16 reference sheets on the step and its guides
  • Read Shelters, Shacks and Shanties; The Young Mechanic; The Chemical History of a Candle
Unlocks Make water safe · WaterWound care and first aid · HealthPreserve the harvest · FoodPlan the house: sun, air, smoke and damp · ShelterPottery and the first kiln · MaterialsSoap · HealthBoats and safe water travel · TransportCharcoalSalt · Materials
2
Level 2 · Forge · 2 of 4 in this track

Charcoal

Unlocks Smelting: first metal · MaterialsLime · MaterialsBrick and tile · MaterialsSteel and heat treatment · MaterialsCement and concrete · MaterialsGlass · MaterialsCoal and coke
4
Level 4 · Engine · 3 of 4 in this track

Coal and coke

Unlocks Blast furnace and cheap iron · MaterialsRefrigeration and the cold chain · Food
5
Level 5 · Current · 4 of 4 in this track

Petroleum and refining

t5-oil GuideSheet ×16

Petroleum and refining

Get a liquid fuel — dense, portable and pourable.

Needs first: Fermentation and distilling (Materials), Acids (Materials)

  • Guide Energy sources
  • Build none yet
  • Sheets 16 reference sheets on the step and its guides
  • Read Gas-Engines and Producer-Gas Plants; Gas and Oil Engines, Simply Explained; Creative Chemistry and 1 more on the step page
Unlocks Internal combustion and mobility · TransportSynthetic nitrogen · MaterialsPolymers · Materials

Everything in this track

Every guide, build, reference sheet and book reached from the steps above.

Field guides

Level 0
Fire

Making fire once is a trick. Never having to make it from nothing again is the skill, and the difference between them is tinder you collected yesterday.

 Level 2
Charcoal

Throw away two-thirds of the energy in a pile of wood and what is left is the only fuel that reaches the temperature of molten iron.

 Level 1
Poisons

The poisonings a rebuilding community is most likely to meet: where each comes from, how it shows, and the first thing to do.

 Level 7
Energy sources

Every source of energy in one place: what it gives, what it takes, and how it can hurt you. Key figures, a reference sheet for each, and where to read further.

 Level 1
Wood and the forest

The forest is the first material store, the first fuel supply and the first thing a group kills itself cutting down. Managed, it is also the only one of the three that grows back.

 Level 2
Minerals and ores

How to tell the ores that matter with nothing but a streak plate, a knife and your hand: colour lies, streak and weight do not.

 Level 3
Earth sciences

Water in and on the ground, the air and weather, rocks and time, earthquakes and tsunamis, and the climate: each result with what it lets you do and who first found it.

Builds

An earthed charcoal clamp part-way through its burn.
Level 2
Earth charcoal clamp

Turn wood into the fuel that reaches smelting heat — no kiln, no metal, just a stack, a cover and a week of attention.
A clay bloomery shaft after a smelt, with the slag pit in front of the tap.
Level 2
Bloomery furnace

A clay shaft that turns rock into iron — the first machine that makes every other machine possible.

Reference sheets

Drawn overview sheets, each with its corrections printed under it. They orient; they are never the thing you identify from.

Seven panels: the fire triangle and a wood fire, charcoal made in an earth clamp, a charcoal forge with bellows, how coal forms and how coke is made from it, crude oil and its fractions, the fuel pathway from biomass to petroleum, and a table comparing wood, charcoal, coal, coke and petroleum.
Energy: fire and fuel On: Charcoal · Coal and coke · Charcoal: What charcoal is for · Energy sources: Fire and fuel: wood, charcoal, coal, oil and gas
Eight panels: how coal, oil and gas formed, how each is mined or drilled, the chain from extraction to use, a coal-fired power station, refining crude oil, the uses of natural gas, advantages and limits, and a comparison of the three.
Fossil fuels: coal, oil and natural gas On: Coal and coke · Petroleum and refining · Energy sources: Coal, oil and natural gas
Fifteen panels, one picture each: solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass, biogas, nuclear, coal, natural gas, oil, tidal, wave, hydrogen, energy storage, and other renewables such as concentrated solar and the waterwheel.
Energy types On: Energy sources: The sources at a glance
Six columns from left to right: primary energy, conversion, energy forms, storage, transmission and distribution, and useful work. Below them, a solar example from sunlight to homes, and the parts of a balanced system.
The energy system: from natural sources to useful work On: Energy sources: From source to useful work
Eleven panels: solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and biomass, each with a picture, its chain from source to grid and its key points, then tidal, wave, hydrogen, energy storage, the smart grid, and why renewables matter.
Renewable energy: clean power from nature On: Energy without the carbon bill · Energy sources: Renewable sources side by side
Six panels, one per source: solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass, and tidal and wave. Each has a numbered picture of how it works and small pictures of its main kinds.
Renewable energy: how each source works On: Energy sources: Renewable sources side by side
Eight panels: the kinds of biomass, how it becomes heat, electricity and fuel, the main routes (burning, pellets, gasification, biogas and liquid biofuels), a biomass power plant, a biogas digester, transport biofuels, advantages and limits, and everyday uses.
Biomass and bioenergy On: Energy sources: Biomass and biogas
Eight panels: how falling water becomes electricity, a dam and powerhouse in section, storage, run-of-river and pumped-storage plants, the main components, the Pelton, Francis and Kaplan turbines, uses, advantages and limits, and the chain from river to consumer.
Hydro energy: from water to useful energy On: Energy without the carbon bill · Energy sources: Falling water
Nine panels: how wind turns a rotor, the parts of a turbine, onshore and offshore machines, the drive train inside the nacelle, a wind farm feeding the grid, windmills and wind pumps, what affects output, advantages and limits, and a table of output against wind speed.
Wind energy: from wind to useful energy On: Energy sources: Wind
Nine panels: sunlight, the photovoltaic chain from panel to load, solar water and space heating, the parts of a home system, a module and a thermal collector in section, what affects output, photovoltaic against solar thermal, and maintenance and safety.
Solar energy: from sunlight to useful energy On: Energy sources: Sunlight
Eight panels: where the Earth's heat comes from, hydrothermal, enhanced and shallow resources, a geothermal power plant, dry-steam, flash and binary plants, direct uses of the heat, ground-source heat pumps, advantages and limits, and the chain from reservoir to use.
Geothermal energy: heat from within the Earth On: Energy sources: Heat from the Earth
Two halves. Tides: how they drive turbines, a tidal barrage, tidal-stream turbines and a tidal lagoon, with advantages and challenges. Waves: point absorbers, attenuators, oscillating water columns and overtopping devices, with advantages and challenges.
Tidal and wave energy On: Energy sources: Tides and waves
Nine panels: fission of uranium-235, a pressurised water reactor plant in cutaway, the fuel cycle from mine to spent-fuel storage, common reactor types, how the heat becomes electricity, safety systems, advantages and limits, a comparison with other sources, and a named example plant.
Nuclear energy: power from atoms On: Energy sources: Nuclear fission
Eight panels: what hydrogen is, grey, blue, green and other hydrogen, steam methane reforming and electrolysis, storage and transport, its uses, how a fuel cell works, advantages and limits, and key facts.
Hydrogen energy: clean fuel for a low-carbon future On: Energy sources: Hydrogen
Six panels: green, blue and grey hydrogen, storage as compressed gas, as a liquid or in chemicals, transport by pipeline, tanker and ship, its uses, advantages, and challenges.
Hydrogen energy: production, storage, transport and use On: Energy sources: Hydrogen
Eleven panels: batteries, pumped hydro, heat storage, hydrogen, compressed air, flywheels, supercapacitors and chemical storage, each with its uses; a chart of how long each can store; benefits and challenges.
Energy storage On: Energy without the carbon bill · Electricity: Storing it: batteries and the alternatives · Energy sources: Storing energy

Books and archives

Other tracks in Energy

Mechanical powerElectricity