Fire

As an essential part of civilization, energy sources play a vital role in the development of mankind. The use of energy can be roughly divided into four periods: firewood, coal, oil, and new energy. Among them, charcoal, the product that appeared in the ashes after the firewood had burned, is a kind of fuel that has appeared in the firewood period. After human beings can use fire, the convenience brought by the skill is way more than cooking, heating, and the ability to do night activities. The fire brought opportunities for civilization to grow and develop. Sintering ore, smelting metals, manufacturing tools, and other skills that helped human civilizations to develop towards a unique path among any others, are well known and used by humans with the help of fire.

Let's take a step back to charcoal: When did humans start to use charcoal? The answer is about 300,000 years ago, which was when humans could create stone tools and fires. The most likely explanation for the ways charcoal can appear is that after humans expelled the beasts that broke into their shelter, they found that the firewood that should have finished burning is emitting heat, and could still be used to cook. And this may be the origin of charcoal.

Since ancient times, charcoal has played an important role in the culture and history of mankind, while it has made a great contribution to our lives at the same time. The history and culture of charcoal are varied from country to country. In Chinese history, charcoal was used in the civilian industry and industry. People also use its function of dehumidifying and deodorizing to preserve corpses and to observe climate changes using its function of moisture absorption. In the early days, Japan also paved the well bottom with charcoal, and use it as the fertilizer for their lands. Besides, Europe used charcoal to forging bronze weapons before 3000 BC; the United States also used charcoal to forging iron before the late nineteenth century; in Taiwan, the charcoal amount used had also increased after the ports were open.

With the development of energy sources, charcoal has been replaced by heaters and gas stoves, and environmentally friendly charcoal has been invented nowadays. As a fuel, the status of charcoal has also fallen after the advent of natural gas, oil, electricity, and other energy sources. But charcoal is still a renewable energy that is important to humankind. Charcoal can still be used as a fuel for metal smelting, food, and light industry. Besides that, charcoal is also useful in grinding, painting, makeup, medicine, gunpowder, carburizing, and powder metallurgy. Nowadays, other uses of charcoal are still developing. For example, Its function of deodorizing, dehumidifying, water and air purification, absorb harmful substances, far-infrared radiation, pest-proofing, electromagnetic shielding, presenting climate changes, as a protectant for coffins, painting, charcoal, and the preservation of art and cultural relics can all play a role in daily life. In medical beauty, charcoal can promote blood circulation and metabolism, release infrared rays that are beneficial to the human body, relieve tiredness, and ease back pain, which are helpful to us today.

Even though charcoal does not occupy a pivotal position in the history of human civilization, it still plays an important role in the development of energy sources. In the future, charcoal may not be passed on, but it will always exist in the memoirs of human development.