Energy

252 advances: 221 achieved, 13 at the frontier now, 18 ahead.

The frontier

• Fusion ignition 2022 · frontier
  NIF achieves net target gain, Dec 2022.
• Deep RL controls tokamak plasma 2022 · frontier
  DeepMind and EPFL magnetic control of TCV plasma (Nature, Feb 2022).
• Artificial photosynthesis 2022 · frontier
  Process of photosynthesis. 2022 – Researchers in Cambridge develop floating artificial leaves for light-driven hydrogen production. The lightweight, flexible devices are scalable and can float on water similar to lotus leaves.
• Small modular reactors 2023 · frontier
  NuScale design certified 2023; hyperscaler nuclear deals 2024.
• Perovskite and tandem solar 2023 · frontier
  Tandem cells above 33% efficiency.
• Enhanced geothermal 2023 · frontier
  Fervo's horizontal-drilling pilot, 2023.
• AI datacenter buildout 2024 · frontier
  Hyperscaler capex of hundreds of billions per year; gigawatt campuses.
• AI gigawatt datacenters 2025 · frontier
  Multi-GW AI clusters and energy as the binding constraint.
• First subsea geothermal well and net-positive seafloor power plant (Endurance Adélie) 2026 · frontier
  Seattle startup drilled the first offshore geothermal well at Axial Seamount and ran a 3-ton seafloor plant net-positive for ~8.7 s (peak 16.5 kW).
• General Fusion LM26 reaches 1 keV via magnetized target fusion 2026 · frontier
  LM26 exceeded 1 keV electron temperature with low-speed metal-wall compression, the first of three LM26 milestones (with UKAEA).
• First ERCOT interconnection application for SMRs (Blue Energy, up to 1.5 GW) 2026 · frontier
  Up to five 300 MW GE Vernova Hitachi reactors proposed to power a Crusoe data center; first unit not before 2033.
• Solar overtakes nuclear in global electricity generation (H1 2026) 2026 · frontier
  Ember data: solar ~1,564 TWh vs nuclear ~1,326 TWh in Jan-Jun 2026, just over 10% of world power; reported by BBC Future Oct 23.
• DOE conditional $5B loan for Constellation nuclear uprates (~1.1 GW) 2026 · frontier
  Conditional commitment to uprate and modernize eight plants in IL, MD and PA, adding nearly 1.1 GW; not yet a final loan.
• Post-scarcity energy and matter · future · progress: none
  Energy, materials, food, water, and manufactured goods become so cheap that material scarcity stops constraining human lives. It combines abundant clean energy with self-replicating automation and atomically precise manufacturing.
• Abundant, cheap energy · future · progress: demonstrated
  Energy per person is the root of every capability on this spire, from compute to desalination to launch.
• REBCO high-field superconducting magnets at industrial scale · future · progress: demonstrated
  High-temperature superconducting tape (REBCO) magnets at 20 T and above, made by the thousand. They enable compact fusion, maglev, and magnetospheric shields.
• Commercial fusion power · future · progress: early
  Net-electric fusion plants delivering power to the grid. Ignition has been shown; engineering the plant is the remaining work.
• Aneutronic fusion (p–B11, D–He3) · future · progress: early
  Fusion that releases energy mostly as charged particles, allowing direct conversion to electricity with little neutron damage. It is far harder than D–T fusion.
• Mass-produced advanced fission · future · progress: demonstrated
  Factory-built reactors (molten salt, high-temperature gas, fast) deployed like aircraft engines. This is firm power for industry and space.
• Superhot-rock geothermal · future · progress: early
  Drilling to supercritical-temperature rock for baseload power almost anywhere on Earth.
• Terawatt-scale solar plus storage · future · progress: deploying
  Tandem solar cells and cheap batteries deployed at multi-terawatt scale. The near-term workhorse of abundance.
• Continental HVDC and superconducting grids · future · progress: deploying
  Long-distance, low-loss transmission that moves sunlight across time zones and links every source to every load.
• Energy too cheap to meter · future · progress: none
  Clean electricity at a fraction of today's cost, everywhere. Desalination, direct air capture, and atom-level recycling become cheap.
• Space-based solar power · future · progress: demonstrated
  Gigawatt solar collectors in orbit beaming power to Earth and to orbital industry.
• Solar-system power swarm (Dyson swarm segments) · future · progress: none
  Self-replicating factories turn asteroid material into collectors orbiting the Sun, scaling energy capture by orders of magnitude. Needed for planet-scale and spacetime-scale engineering.
• Space nuclear power (kilowatt to megawatt reactors) · future · progress: demonstrated
  Compact reactors for lunar nights, Martian dust storms, and deep-space industry.
• Water abundance · future · progress: deploying
  Desalination and atmospheric water harvesting cheap enough that fresh water is never scarce.
• Long-duration grid storage · future · progress: demonstrated
  Week-long storage (iron-air, thermal, pumped) that makes intermittent power firm.
• Green hydrogen and e-fuels at scale · future · progress: demonstrated
  Cheap electrolytic hydrogen and synthetic fuels for steel, fertilizer, aviation, and rockets.
• Gigaton-scale carbon removal · future · progress: demonstrated
  Direct air capture and mineralization at gigatons per year, practice for planet-scale atmospheric engineering.
• Fusion fuel cycle (tritium breeding, helium-3) · future · progress: early
  Closing the fuel cycle for D–T fusion and sourcing helium-3 for advanced fuels.

How we got here

• Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant crisis 2022 · achieved
  Act of nuclear terrorism by Russia during the Russian-Ukrainian war (2022). On March 4, Russian Armed Forces capture Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and thermal plant, the first military attack and capture of operational commercial nuclear reactors.
• CATL sodium-ion cell 2021 · achieved
  Announced in 2021: lithium-free chemistry.
• 4680 tabless cell 2020 · achieved
  Announced at Battery Day 2020; produced from 2022.
• BYD Blade battery 2020 · achieved
  LFP cell-to-pack battery.
• Grid-scale batteries 2020 · achieved
  Massive LFP grid storage deployment.
• Solar cell efficiency 2019 · achieved
  Ratio of energy extracted from sunlight in solar cells. 2019 - The world record for solar cell efficiency at 47.1% was achieved by using multi-junction concentrator solar cells, developed at National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado, USA.
• Tesla Megapack 2019 · achieved
  Containerized grid storage, about 3.9 MWh per unit.
• Taishan Nuclear Power Plant 2018 · achieved
  Nuclear power plant. In December, the Taishan 1 EPR begins operation in Guangdong, China. At 1660 MWe it is the largest nuclear reactor unit by electrical power ever.
• Hornsdale Power Reserve 2017 · achieved
  A 100 MW Tesla battery in South Australia.
• Battery gigafactories 2016 · achieved
  Tesla/Panasonic Gigafactory Nevada; CATL scaled further in China.
• Cheap solar and wind 2015 · achieved
  Solar module prices fall ~90% in the 2010s.
• Micro combined heat and power 2014 · achieved
  Small-scale generation of heat and power. 2014 – The Japanese fuel cell micro combined heat and power (mCHP) ENE FARM project passes 100,000 sold systems.
• Power to gas 2013 · achieved
  Process to convert electric power into hydrogen or methane. 2013 – The first commercial 2 megawatt power to gas installation in Falkenhagen comes online for 360 cubic meters of hydrogen per hour hydrogen storage into the natural gas grid.
• Akademik Lomonosov 2010 · achieved
  Russian floating nuclear power plant. On December 19, Akademik Lomonosov, the first commercial floating nuclear power plant, begins operation in Chukotka, Russia.
• Perovskite solar cell 2009 · achieved
  Type of solar cell. Researchers reported the development of a database and analysis tool about perovskite solar cells which systematically integrates over 15,000 publications, in particular device-data about over 42,400 of such photovoltaic devices.
• LED filament bulb 2008 · achieved
  LED lamp which is designed to resemble a traditional incandescent light bulb with visible filaments. 2008 – Ushio Lighting demonstrates the first LED filament.
• ITER (under construction) 2007 · achieved
  Thirty-five nations building the largest tokamak in Cadarache, France; the ITER Organization was founded in 2007 and first plasma is now planned for the 2030s.
• Polycrystalline silicon 2006 · achieved
  High purity, polycrystalline form of silicon. 2006 - Polysilicon use in photovoltaics exceeds all other polysilicon use for the first time.
• Compressed natural gas 2005 · achieved
  CNG, fuel which can be used in place of gasoline, diesel fuel and propane/LPG. CNG car/vehicle – Bajaj Auto launched the first 'commercial' lot of its CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) autorickshaws in Delhi on 29 May 2000.
• Ground-level power supply 2003 · achieved
  Alternative method of third rail electrical pick-up for street trams. 2003 - First modern Ground-level power supply technology, Bordeaux tramway.
• Generation IV reactor 2001 · achieved
  Classification of nuclear reactors. Generation IV reactor: China was the first country to operate a demonstration generation-IV nuclear reactor, the HTR-PM in 2021. The reactor subsequently became the first fourth generation reactor to enter commercial service in 2023.
• Silex Process 2000 · achieved
  Process for isotope separation used to produce enriched uranium. On June 26, the United States Department of Energy classifies the SILEX process of uranium laser enrichment, originally developed by the Australian company Silex Systems.
• HTR-10 2000 · achieved
  Prototype pebble bed reactor. On December 21, the HTR-10 prototype high-temperature helium-cooled pebble-bed reactor achieves criticality at Tsinghua University, China.
• Fluorescence 1995 · achieved
  Emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light. A compact fluorescent lamp is a fluorescent lamp designed to replace an incandescent lightbulb.
• Multijunction photovoltaic cell 1994 · achieved
  Solar power cell with multiple band gaps from different materials. 1994 - NREL develops a GaInP/GaAs two-terminal concentrator cell (180 suns) which becomes the first solar cell to exceed 30% conversion efficiency. [ citation needed ]
• Blue LED 1993 · achieved
  Nakamura, Akasaki, and Amano; Nobel Prize 2014.
• Photoelectrochemical cell 1991 · achieved
  Sources of electricity or hydrogen via electrolysis. 1991 - Efficient photoelectrochemical cells are developed
• Dye-sensitized solar cell 1991 · achieved
  Type of thin-film solar cell. 1988 - The Dye-sensitized solar cell is created by Michael Grätzel and Brian O'Regan. These photoelectrochemical cells work from an organic dye compound inside the cell and cost half as much as silicon solar cells.
• Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant 1991 · achieved
  Nuclear power plant in Zhejiang, China. On September 27, HWRR, a Soviet-supplied 7 MW heavy water research reactor, the first reactor in China, begins operation in Beijing.
• Lithium-ion battery 1991 · achieved
  Sony commercialization, 1991.
• Accelerator-driven sub-critical reactor 1990 · achieved
  Type of nuclear reactor design. On June 24, Leo Szilard files the first patent for a nuclear reactor.
• Sulfur lamp 1990 · achieved
  Lighting system. 1990 – Michael Ury, Charles Wood, and several colleagues develop the sulfur lamp.
• Superphénix 1985 · achieved
  Fast breeder reactor in France. In September, Superphénix, the largest fast reactor and breeder reactor ever, at 1,242 MWe, achieves criticality at Creys-Malville in France.
• Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant 1984 · achieved
  Nuclear-power plant in Enerhodar, Ukraine. On September 11, Unit 6 at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the last operating reactor, is disconnected from the grid.
• Amorphous silicon 1982 · achieved
  Non-crystalline silicon. 1982 - The first >10% amorphous silicon thin-film solar cell is reported.
• Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant 1980 · achieved
  Nuclear power station in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. Largest nuclear power station in the world.. On July 2, Unit 7 begins commercial operation at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, Japan, making it the largest nuclear power plant ever by net electrical power at 7,965 MWe.
• Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station 1979 · achieved
  Nuclear power plant. On March 28, Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station 's Unit 2 reactor experiences a partial core meltdown, in Pennsylvania, US. It is the worst nuclear accident in US history based on radioactive material released.
• Post-Three Mile Island regulatory ratchet 1979 · achieved
  After TMI (no deaths), new NRC requirements and backfits drove multi-fold cost overruns; dozens of plants were abandoned mid-construction.
• Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant 1977 · achieved
  Decommissioned nuclear power station near the city of Pripyat, Ukraine, known by Chernobyl disaster. On April 26, in the Ukrainian SSR, Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Unit 4 experiences a core meltdown during a test, the first Level 7 nuclear accident on the International Nuclear Event Scale.
• Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant 1975 · achieved
  Power station in Bushehr County, Iran. In July, Kraftwerk Union AG begins work on the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in Iran. It is the first commercial nuclear project in the Middle East.
• US nuclear licensing drag (NRC) 1975 · achieved
  The NRC was created in 1975. Licensing and backfit rules pushed build times past a decade; more than 100 US reactor orders were cancelled after 1974, and no new US reactor was ordered from 1978 to 2012.
• Peaceful nuclear explosion 1974 · achieved
  Nuclear explosion conducted for non-military purposes. 1974 – South Africa secretly decides to pursue a capability for nuclear bombs, ostensibly for peaceful nuclear explosions.
• Messmer plan (French nuclear buildout) 1974 · achieved
  56 reactors in about 15 years; about 70% of French electricity became nuclear.
• RBMK 1973 · achieved
  Commercial nuclear reactor design. The AMB-100, the first reactor to use supercritical water, begins operation at Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Station in the Soviet Union.
• BN-350 reactor 1973 · achieved
  Nuclear reactor. BN350 nuclear fast reactor.
• Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station 1972 · achieved
  Nuclear and natural gas power plant in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. On December 8, the US NRC grants a 20-year extension to Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station Units 3 and 4, the first US reactors licensed for an 80-year lifetime.
• ALARA radiation standard (linear no-threshold) 1972 · achieved
  "As low as reasonably achievable" dose rules, built on the linear no-threshold model, pushed safety spending far past any health benefit.
• Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant 1971 · achieved
  Nuclear power plant in Japan. On March 11, during electrical outage from the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Fukushima Daiichi reactor units 1, 2, and 3 experience partial core meltdowns, and release radioactive material into the environment.
• Nickel–hydrogen battery 1970 · achieved
  Type of rechargeable battery. 1970 – Nickel hydrogen battery.
• USS Sturgis 1968 · achieved
  Scrapped floating nuclear power station. On January 24, MH-1A, the first floating nuclear power plant, achieves criticality. It was developed by the Army Nuclear Power Program at Gunston Cove, Virginia.
• Northeast blackout of 1965 1965 · achieved
  Major power outage. 1965 – The Command Center for the Office of Emergency Planning mistakes the Northeast blackout for a nuclear attack.
• SNAP-10A 1965 · achieved
  Experimental nuclear reactor launched into space in 1965. On April 3, NASA launches into orbit the Snapshot satellite carrying SNAP-10A, the first reactor operated in space and via its cesium ion thruster also the first use of nuclear electric propulsion.
• N-Reactor 1963 · achieved
  Nuclear reactor at the Hanford Site in Washington, United States. In December, the N reactor, the ninth at the Hanford Site, Washington, begins operation. At 4000 MWth it is one of the largest plutonium production reactors ever.
• Indian Point Energy Center 1962 · achieved
  Nuclear power plant. On September 16, Indian Point Unit 1, the first commercial reactor to use thorium fuel, begins commercial operation in New York.
• AVR reactor 1960 · achieved
  Prototype nuclear reactor in Germany. On August 28, the AVR, the first pebble-bed reactor, achieves criticality at Julich Research Center, West Germany. It was an early pioneer of helium-cooled high temperature designs.
• Research reactor 1960 · achieved
  Nuclear reactors that serve primarily as a neutron source. A Soviet-supplied IR-2000 pool-type research reactor begins operation as the first reactor in North Korea, at the Nyongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center.
• Army Nuclear Power Program 1960 · achieved
  Historic reactor construction program. On January 3, the Army Nuclear Power Program 's SL-1 experiences a prompt critical accident, killing three workers, the first and only fatal nuclear power accident in the United States.
• Alternator 1960 · achieved
  Electric generator used in vehicles to power the electrical system. 1960s – alternators replace generators on automobile engines.
• Stripboard 1959 · achieved
  Generic name for a widely used type of electronics prototyping board. Veroboard ( Stripboard ) Terry Fitzpatrick
• Nuclear propulsion 1958 · achieved
  Propulsion methods that use a nuclear reaction as the primary power source.
• Tokamak 1958 · achieved
  Soviet T-1 tokamak, 1958.
• Graphite moderated reactor 1957 · achieved
  Type of nuclear reactor. 1957 – October 10 – The Windscale fire occurs in Seascale, Cumbria after a graphite-moderated reactor built for the British hydrogen bomb project catches fire, resulting in the release of radioactive contamination across the United King…
• Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant 1954 · achieved
  First in the world reactor electricity. Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant by Igor Kurchatov
• AEC reactor licensing regime 1954 · achieved
  The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 put civilian reactors under AEC licensing, which tightened through the 1960s–70s.
• Silicon solar cell 1954 · achieved
  Bell Labs, 1954.
• Nuclear power 1954 · achieved
  Obninsk 1954; Shippingport 1957.
• Electroluminescence 1953 · achieved
  An optical phenomenon and electrical phenomenon in which a material emits light in response to the passage of an electric current or to a strong electric field. 1953 – André Bernanose and several colleagues observe electroluminescence in organic materials.
• Halogen lamp 1953 · achieved
  Incandescent lamp variety. 1953 – Elmer Fridrich invents the halogen lamp.
• Uranium ore 1951 · achieved
  Economically recoverable concentrations of uranium within the Earth's crust. 1951 – China and the Soviet Union sign an agreement whereby China would supply uranium ore in exchange for technical assistance in producing nuclear weapons.
• Experimental Breeder Reactor I 1951 · achieved
  Breeder reactor. On August 24, EBR-I, the first breeder reactor, producing more fuel than it consumes, begins power operation.
• Hydrogen storage 1951 · achieved
  Any method for storing hydrogen for later use. 1951 – Underground hydrogen storage.
• Nuclear power plant 1951 · achieved
  Thermal power station where the heat source is a nuclear reactor. First nuclear power plant in the US
• Organic nuclear reactor 1950 · achieved
  Type of nuclear reactor. The OMRE, the first complete organic nuclear reactor, cooled and moderated by hydrocarbons, in this case terphenyls, achieves criticality at the Idaho National Laboratory.
• Gas centrifuge 1950 · achieved
  Device for chemical separation. On November 2, the first gas centrifuge enrichment plant begins operation, in Leningrad, under a team led by Evgeni Kamenev.
• Gas-cooled reactor 1950 · achieved
  Type of nuclear reactor. On October 27, EL-2, the first gas-cooled reactor, achieves criticality at the Saclay Nuclear Research Centre, France.
• Tantalum capacitor 1950 · achieved
  Electrolytic capacitor. Solid electrolyte tantalum capacitor was invented by Bell Laboratories.
• Hydrodesulfurization 1949 · achieved
  1949 – Hydrodesulfurization ( catalytic reforming ) is commercialized under the name "platforming process".
• NRX 1947 · achieved
  Decommissioned heavy water moderated, light water cooled, nuclear research reactor at the Canadian Chalk River Laboratories (Canada). On July 22, NRX, the second reactor in Canada, achieves criticality at Chalk River Laboratories.
• F-1 1946 · achieved
  Nuclear research reactor in Moscow, Russia. On December 25, F-1, the first reactor in the Soviet Union and in Europe, and outside North America, achieves criticality at the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow.
• Fast-neutron reactor 1946 · achieved
  Nuclear reactor in which the fission chain reaction is sustained by fast neutrons. On January 20, a team led by Otto Robert Frisch achieves the first criticality burst in the Dragon Critical Assembly at Los Alamos National Laboratory, the first fast neutron reactor and first prompt criticality.
• ZEEP 1945 · achieved
  Canadian nuclear reactor. On September 5, ZEEP, the first reactor in Canada and outside the United States, achieves criticality at Chalk River Laboratories, on the Ontario side of the Ottawa River.
• Gaseous diffusion 1945 · achieved
  Nuclear Economy Process. On March 12, K-25, the first gaseous diffusion plant becomes fully operational at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee.
• Microwave oven 1945 · achieved
  Kitchen cooking appliance. 1945: Percy Spencer, while employed at Raytheon, would patent a magnetron based microwave oven.
• Nuclear reprocessing 1944 · achieved
  Process to separate and recover fissionable plutonium from irradiated nuclear fuel. On October 28, US president Gerald Ford indefinitely suspends nuclear spent fuel reprocessing, and encourages other nations to do the same.
• B Reactor 1944 · achieved
  Decommissioned nuclear reactor at the Hanford Site in Washington, United States. On September 26, the B Reactor is started at Hanford Site, Washington. At 250 MWth, it is the first reactor to exceed 10 and 100 MWth and is considered the first large-scale reactor.
• Chicago Pile 3 1944 · achieved
  First heavy water reactor in the world, going critical on 15 May 1944. On May 15, Chicago Pile-3, the first heavy-water reactor, achieves criticality at Site A, Illinois. It uses deuterium oxide i.e. heavy water as a moderator instead of graphite, as well as a coolant.
• X-10 Graphite Reactor 1943 · achieved
  World's second artificial nuclear reactor and the first reactor designed and built for continuous operation. On November 4, the X-10 Graphite Reactor achieves criticality at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee. It is the world's third reactor, the first built for continuous operation, the first reactor for the production of plutonium-239.
• Hydrox 1943 · achieved
  Breathing gas mixture experimentally used for very deep diving. 1943 – Arne Zetterström describes hydrox.
• Chicago Pile-1 1942 · achieved
  World's first nuclear reactor to achieve criticality, part of the Manhattan Project, the Allied effort to create atomic bombs during World War II. On December 2, Chicago Pile-1, the first artificial nuclear reactor, achieves criticality at the University of Chicago.
• Nuclear reactor 1942 · achieved
  Device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. 1942: Enrico Fermi developed the nuclear reactor and created the first controlled nuclear chain reaction
• Enriched uranium 1940 · achieved
  Uranium in which the proportion of uranium-235 has been increased through the process of isotope separation. On September 16, S-50, the first and only full-scale liquid thermal diffusion plant, begins operation at Clinton Engineer Works, Tennessee.
• Aqueous homogeneous reactor 1940 · achieved
  Type of nuclear reactor. On May 9, LOPO (low-power), the first aqueous homogeneous reactor, the first reactor to use enriched uranium, and the first water-cooled and water-moderated reactor, achieves criticality at Los Alamos National Laboratory, using a sol…
• Rice cooker 1940 · achieved
  Kitchen appliance. Electric rice cooker
• Gas turbine 1939 · achieved
  First utility gas turbine (Neuchâtel), 1939.
• Hydrogen infrastructure 1938 · achieved
  Infrastructure of transporting hydrogen. 1938 – The first 240 km hydrogen pipeline Rhine-Ruhr.
• Linear induction motor 1935 · achieved
  Type of linear motor. Hermann Kemper built a working linear induction motor.
• Rural electrification 1935 · achieved
  The US REA; grid access in the countryside rose from about 10% to about 90% by 1950s.
• Electrical switch 1932 · achieved
  Electrical component that can break an electrical circuit.
• Cockcroft–Walton generator 1930 · achieved
  Electric circuit which generates a high DC voltage from a low voltage AC or pulsing DC input. On April 30, John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton publish the first disintegration of an atomic nucleus, popularly described as splitting the atom.
• Negative feedback amplifier 1927 · achieved
  Type of electronic amplifier. American engineer Harold Stephen Black invented negative feedback amplifier.
• Household refrigerator (GE Monitor-Top) 1927 · achieved
  The first mass-market sealed refrigerator.
• Phosphor 1924 · achieved
  Substance that emits light when exposed to some type of radiant energy. Manfred von Ardenne can be the principle of a color picture tube patent: Narrow strips of phosphors in the three primary colors are closely juxtaposed arranged so that they complement each other with the electron flow to white light.
• Steam reforming 1923 · achieved
  Method for producing hydrogen, carbon monoxide, or other useful products from hydrocarbon fuels. 1923 – Steam reforming, the first synthetic methanol is produced by BASF in Leuna.
• Sodium-vapor lamp 1920 · achieved
  Type of lamp used for lighting. 1920 – Arthur Compton invents the sodium-vapor lamp.
• Crystal oscillator 1917 · achieved
  Electronic oscillator circuit. American engineer Alexander M. Nicholson invented the crystal oscillator.
• Tesla turbine 1913 · achieved
  Bladeless centripetal flow turbine. 1913 ( 1913 ): Nikola Tesla patents a bladeless steam turbine that utilizes the boundary layer effect. This design has never been used commercially due to its low efficiency.
• Cracking 1913 · achieved
  Process breaking down complex organic molecules into simpler ones. 1920 – Hydrocracking, a plant for the commercial hydrogenation of brown coal is commissioned at Leuna in Germany.
• Kaplan turbine 1913 · achieved
  Propeller-type water turbine which has adjustable blades. 1913: The Kaplan turbine is invented by Viktor Kaplan.
• Metal-halide lamp 1912 · achieved
  Type of lamp. 1912 – Charles P. Steinmetz invents the metal-halide lamp.
• Valve amplifier 1912 · achieved
  Type of electronic amplifier. Robert von Lieben patented his "inertia working cathode-ray-relays". By 1910 he developed this into the first real tube amplifier, by creating a triode.
• Electronic oscillator 1912 · achieved
  Electronic circuit that produces a repetitive, oscillating electronic signal. American engineer Edwin Howard Armstrong developed the electronic oscillator.
• Vemork 1911 · achieved
  Hydroelectric power station and museum in Tinn, Norway. In January, Vemork hydroelectric plant in Norway operates the first large-scale heavy water production site, pioneered by Leif Tronstad.
• Neon lighting 1910 · achieved
  Lighting apparatus, electrifies rarefied neon in a sealed tube. 1910 – Georges Claude demonstrates neon lighting at the Paris Motor Show.
• Silver mica capacitor 1909 · achieved
  Mica capacitor was invented by William Dubilier.
• Triode 1906 · achieved
  Single-grid amplifying vacuum tube having three active electrodes. American inventor Lee de Forest invented the triode.
• Air conditioning (Carrier) 1902 · achieved
  Willis Carrier, Brooklyn printing plant.
• Mercury-vapor lamp 1901 · achieved
  Electric lighting source. 1901 – Peter Cooper Hewitt creates the first commercial mercury-vapor lamp.
• Carbide lamp 1900 · achieved
  Acetylene-burning lamps. 1900 – Frederick Baldwin patents a carbide lamp for use on bicycles. The invention builds on acetylene lamps from the 1890s.
• Nickel–cadmium battery 1899 · achieved
  Type of rechargeable battery. 1899: Waldemar Jungner invents the rechargeable nickel-cadmium battery (NiCd) as well as the nickel-iron electric storage battery (NiFe) and the rechargeable alkaline silver-cadmium battery (AgCd)
• Townsend discharge 1897 · achieved
  Gas ionisation process where free electrons are accelerated by an electric field, collide with gas molecules, and consequently free additional electrons. 1897-1901 - Discovery of the Townsend discharge by John Sealy Townsend.
• Nernst lamp 1897 · achieved
  Early form of incandescent lamp. 1897 – Walther Nernst invents and patents his incandescent lamp, based on solid state electrolytes.
• Charcoal briquette 1897 · achieved
  Cooking method. A charcoal briquette, or briquet is a block of flammable charcoal matter which is used as fuel to start and maintain a fire, mainly used for food preparation over an open fire or a barbecue.
• Hydrogen production process 1896 · achieved
  Family of industrial methods for generating hydrogen. 1896 – Jackson D.D. and Ellms J.W., hydrogen production by microalgae ( Anabaena ).
• Tesla's oscillator 1893 · achieved
  Steam-powered electric generator. 1893 ( 1893 ): Nikola Tesla patents a steam powered oscillating electro-mechanical generator.
• Phototube 1893 · achieved
  Light-sensitive gas-filled or vacuum tube. approximately 1893: The selenium phototube invention allows the conversion of brightness values into electrical signals. The principle is applied in wirephoto and television technology for a short time.
• Waveguide 1893 · achieved
  Structure that guides waves, typically electromagnetic waves. English physicist J. J. Thomson invented waveguides.
• Electric stove 1892 · achieved
  Stove with an integrated electrical heating device to cook and bake. 1892: Thomas Ahearn invents the electric oven.
• Fuse 1890 · achieved
  Electrical safety device. Thomas Edison invents the fuse
• Induction motor 1888 · achieved
  Type of AC electric motor. Italian physicist and electrical engineer Galileo Ferraris publishes a paper on the induction motor, and Serbian-American engineer Nikola Tesla gets a US patent on the same device
• Wind turbine 1887 · achieved
  Device that converts wind energy into electrical energy. 1887: James Blyth invents the first wind turbine used for generating electricity.
• Zinc–carbon battery 1886 · achieved
  Type of zinc–manganese dioxide battery with acidic electrolyte. 1886: Carl Gassner invents the zinc–carbon battery, the first dry cell battery, making portable electronics practical.
• Inductance 1886 · achieved
  Property of electrical conductors to oppose changes in current flow. 1886 – Oliver Heaviside coins the term inductance.
• AC electric power 1886 · achieved
  Tesla/Westinghouse AC, 1886–1896.
• Gas mantle 1885~ · achieved
  Device for generating bright light when heated by a flame. c. 1885 – Incandescent gas mantle invented, revolutionises gas lighting.
• Steam turbine 1884 · achieved
  Parsons, 1884.
• Direct current 1882 · achieved
  Unidirectional flow of electric charge. 1882 – Edison switches on the world's first electrical power distribution system, providing 110 volts direct current (DC) to 59 customers.
• Rechargeable battery 1882 · achieved
  Type of electrical battery which can be charged, discharged into a load, and recharged many times; device that stores energy. Anthony Reckenzaun designs the first significant electric launch driven by storage batteries, and names the boat Electricity.
• Three-phase electric power 1880 · achieved
  Common electrical power generation, transmission and distribution method for alternating currents.
• Thermionic emission 1880 · achieved
  Thermally induced flow of charge carriers from a surface. Thomas Edison discovers thermionic emission. This effect forms the basis for the vacuum tube and the cathode ray tube.
• Voltmeter 1880 · achieved
  Instrument used for measuring electrical potential difference. Digital voltmeter Kay
• Stefan-Boltzmann law 1879 · achieved
  Physical law on the emissive power of black body. 1879 – Jožef Stefan discovers the Stefan–Boltzmann radiation law of a black body and uses it to calculate the first sensible value of the temperature of the Sun's surface to be 5700 K
• Hall effect 1879 · achieved
  Production of a voltage difference across an electrical conductor in a magnetic field. American physicist Edwin Herbert Hall discovered the Hall Effect.
• Incandescent light and grid 1879 · achieved
  Edison and Swan, 1879; Pearl Street Station 1882.
• Pelton wheel 1878 · achieved
  Type of turbine. 1878: Lester Allan Pelton invents the Pelton wheel, a type of water turbine.
• Linde ammonia refrigeration 1876 · achieved
  Carl von Linde's efficient compressor; later air liquefaction (1895).
• Internal combustion engine 1876 · achieved
  Otto four-stroke, 1876; Diesel 1893.
• Electroscope 1875 · achieved
  Early scientific instrument used to detect the presence of electric charge on a body. 1875: While experimenting with an acoustic telegraph, Thomas Edison notices an electromagnet producing unusual sparks.
• Rectifier 1874 · achieved
  Electrical device that converts AC to DC. 1874: Ferdinand Braun discovers the rectifier effect in metal sulfides and metal oxides.
• Water gas 1873 · achieved
  Mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. 1873 – Thaddeus S. C. Lowe – water gas; the process uses the water gas shift reaction.
• Induction coil 1871 · achieved
  Type of electrical transformer used to produce high-voltage pulses from a low-voltage direct current (DC) supply. 1871: Edwin Houston, while setting up a large sparking Ruhmkorff coil to be used in a demonstration, notices he can draw sparks from metal objects throughout the room. He attributes this to induction.
• Yablochkov candle 1870 · achieved
  Type of electric carbon arc lamp. Invented in 1876 by Pavel Yablochkov, the Yablochkov candle was the first commercially viable electric carbon arc lamp and was used for the world's first electric street lightning at the Exposition Universelle (1878) in Paris.
• Fluorescent lamp 1867 · achieved
  Light source. 1867 – Edmond Becquerel demonstrates the first fluorescent lamp.
• Lead–acid battery 1859 · achieved
  Rechargeable battery type often used in cars. 1859: Gaston Planté invents the lead acid battery, the first rechargeable battery.
• Ammonia absorption refrigeration (Carré) 1859 · achieved
  Ferdinand Carré.
• Petroleum drilling 1859 · achieved
  Drake well, Pennsylvania, 1859.
• Geissler tube 1857 · achieved
  Gas-discharge lamp. 1857: Heinrich Geissler invents the Geissler tube.
• Commercial ice-making machine (Harrison) 1856 · achieved
  James Harrison, Geelong: brewery and meatpacking refrigeration.
• Heat exchanger 1850 · achieved
  Piece of equipment built for efficient heat transfer from one medium to another. A radiator is a heat exchanger used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling or heating. The first historical application of radiator was in central heating systems.
• Francis turbine 1849 · achieved
  Type of water turbine. 1849: James B. Francis invents the Francis turbine.
• Grove cell 1839 · achieved
  Type of electric battery. 1839 – William Robert Grove develops the Grove cell.
• Fuel cell 1839 · achieved
  Electrochemical cell that converts chemical energy into electricity by oxidizing a fuel. 1801 – Humphry Davy discovers the concept of the fuel cell.
• Steam hammer 1839 · achieved
  Power hammer. 1839: James Nasmyth invents the steam hammer.
• Steam shovel 1839 · achieved
  Steam-powered excavation machine. 1839: William Otis invents the steam shovel.
• Photovoltaic effect 1839 · achieved
  Electric current generation from light. French scientist Edmond Becquerel discovered the photovoltaic effect.
• Primary cell 1836 · achieved
  Electric battery designed to be used once and not recharged. 1836 – John Frederic Daniell invents a primary cell in which hydrogen is eliminated in the generation of the electricity.
• Electric light 1835 · achieved
  Any device that produces light from electricity. 1835 – James Bowman Lindsay demonstrates a light bulb based electric lighting system to the citizens of Dundee.
• Relay 1835 · achieved
  Electrically operated switch. 1835 – Joseph Henry invents the electric relay, which is an electrical switch by which the change of a weak current through the windings of an electromagnet will attract an armature to open or close the switch.
• Electromotive force 1834 · achieved
  Scalar physical quantity homogeneous to a voltage, expressing the modulus of the force exerted on a charge in an electric field. 1834 – Heinrich Lenz determines the direction of the induced electromotive force (emf) and current resulting from electromagnetic induction.
• Vapor-compression refrigeration (Perkins) 1834 · achieved
  Jacob Perkins' patent, London.
• Thermistor 1833 · achieved
  Type of resistor whose resistance varies with temperature. Michael Faraday invented the thermistor
• Electrical generator 1832 · achieved
  Device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. French instrument maker Hippolyte Pixii in France developed a prototype DC generator.
• Thermopile 1831 · achieved
  Device that converts thermal energy into electrical energy. 1831 – Macedonio Melloni uses a thermopile to detect infrared radiation
• DC motor 1831 · achieved
  Type of motor which works on direct current and magnetic poles. American scientist Joseph Henry in the United States developed a prototype DC motor.
• Electrical transformer 1831 · achieved
  Electrical device that transfers energy through electromagnetic induction from one circuit to another circuit.
• Gas stove 1826 · achieved
  Stove that is fueled by combustible gas. 1826: James Sharp invents and goes on to manufacture the first practical gas stove.
• Heat engine 1824 · achieved
  System that performs the conversion of heat or thermal energy to mechanical work. 1824 – Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot first publishes that the efficiency of a heat engine depends on the temperature difference between an engine and its environment.
• Electromagnet 1824 · achieved
  Type of magnet in which the magnetic field is produced by the flow of electric current. 1824: William Sturgeon invents the electromagnet.
• Döbereiner's lamp 1823 · achieved
  Lighter invented in 1823 by J. W. Döbereiner. 1823: Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner invents the first lighter.
• Thermocouple 1821 · achieved
  Thermoelectric device. 1821 – Thermocouple invented by Thomas Johann Seebeck
• Electric motor 1821 · achieved
  Electromechanical device. 1821 – Michael Faraday builds an electricity-powered motor.
• Thermoelectric effect 1821 · achieved
  Direct conversion of temperature differences to electric voltage and vice versa. German scientist Thomas Johann Seebeck discovered thermoelectricity.
• Stirling engine 1816 · achieved
  Engine powered by a source of heat applied externally to it. 1816: Robert Stirling invents the Stirling engine.
• Davy lamp 1815 · achieved
  Safety lamp for use in flammable atmospheres. 1815 – Humphry Davy invents the miner's safety lamp.
• Safety lamp 1812 · achieved
  Any of several types of lamp that provides illumination in coal mines. 1812: William Reid Clanny pioneered the invention of the safety lamp which he improved in later years. Safety lamps based on Clanny's improved design were used until the adoption of electric lamps.
• Electric arc 1802 · achieved
  Electrical breakdown of a gas that produces an ongoing electrical discharge. 1802 – Vasily Vladimirovich Petrov developed the first persistent electric arc.
• Arc lamp 1802 · achieved
  Light created by electrical breakdown of gas. 1802: Humphry Davy invents the arc lamp (exact date unclear; not practical as a light source until the invention of efficient electric generators).
• Carcel burner 1800 · achieved
  Oil lamp with a clockwork pump mechanism. 1800 – French watchmaker Bertrand Guillaume Carcel [ fr ] overcomes the disadvantages of the Argand-type lamps with his clockwork-fed Carcel lamp.
• Voltaic pile 1800 · achieved
  First electrical battery that could continuously provide an electric current to a circuit. 1800 – Alessandro Volta invents the voltaic pile, or "battery", specifically to disprove Galvani's animal electricity theory.
• Electric battery 1800 · achieved
  Volta's pile, 1800.
• Power loom 1789 · achieved
  Mechanised loom powered by a line shaft. Automatic power loom with a non-stop shuttle-change motion
• Compound steam engine 1781 · achieved
  Type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages.
• Argand lamp 1780 · achieved
  Type of oil lamp. 1780 – Ami Argand invents the central draught fixed oil lamp.
• Galvanic corrosion 1780 · achieved
  Corrosion in electrolytes. Italian scientist Luigi Galvani discovered Galvanic action in living tissue.
• Watt steam engine 1769 · achieved
  Separate condenser, 1769 patent. Jevons: coal demand rose eighteen-fold.
• Artificial refrigeration demo (Cullen) 1748 · achieved
  William Cullen evaporated ether under vacuum to make ice, Glasgow.
• Dielectric 1745 · achieved
  Electrically poorly conducting or non-conducting, non-metallic substance in which charge carriers are generally not free to move. 1745 – Ewald Georg von Kleist of independently invents the capacitor: a glass jar coated inside and out with metal. The inner coating was connected to a rod that passed through the lid and ended in a metal sphere.
• Leyden jar 1745 · achieved
  Antique electrical device which stores a high-voltage electric charge. 1745: Musschenbroek and Kleist independently develop the Leyden jar, an early form of capacitor.
• Newcomen steam engine 1712 · achieved
  First commercial steam engine, pumping water from coal mines.
• Newcomen atmospheric engine 1705~ · achieved
  Early steam engine type. c. 1705 ( 1705 ): Thomas Newcomen develops the atmospheric engine, which, unlike the Savery pump, employs a piston in a cylinder; the vacuum pulling the piston down to the bottom of the cylinder when water is injected into it.
• Steam digester 1679 · achieved
  High-pressure cooker invented by Denis Papin in 1679 to allow paupers to consume bones and low-quality meat. 1679 – Denis Papin designed a steam digester which inspired the development of the piston-and-cylinder steam engine.
• Safety valve 1679 · achieved
  Valve that acts as a fail-safe. 1679 – Denis Papin – safety valve.
• Pressure cooker 1679 · achieved
  Utensil for cooking food under high pressure steam. 1679: Pressure-cooker: Invented by Denis Papin.
• Electrostatic generator 1663 · achieved
  Device that generates electrical charge on a high voltage electrode. 1663 – Otto von Guericke: first electrostatic generator
• Turbine 1629 · achieved
  Rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow. 1629 ( 1629 ): Giovanni Branca suggests using a steam turbine device similar to that described by Taqi al-Din but intended to be used to power a series of pestles working in mortars.
• Architonnerre 1450~ · achieved
  Project by Leonardo da Vinci. Late 15th century AD: Leonardo Da Vinci described the Architonnerre, a steam-powered cannon.
• Windmill 1185 · achieved
  Persian vertical-axis mills ~9th century; European post mills 1185.
• Shale oil extraction 950~ · achieved
  Process for extracting oil from shale rock. Shale oil extraction: In the 10th century, the Arab physician Masawaih al-Mardini (Mesue the Younger) described a method of extraction of oil from "some kind of bituminous shale".
• Persian windmill (panemone) 900 · achieved
  Vertical-axis windmills in Sistan, ~9th century.
• Windpump 850~ · achieved
  Wind-powered pump. Windpump: Windpumps were used to pump water since at least the 9th century in what is now Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan.
• Nazca puquios 500 · achieved
  Spiral-shaft underground aqueducts in desert Peru.
• Oil well 347 · achieved
  Well drilled in the ground or the seabed to recover hydrocarbons. 347: Oil Wells and Borehole drilling in China. Such wells could reach depths of up to 240 m (790 ft).
• Gas lighting 300 · achieved
  Type of artificial light. Gas lighting: The ancient Chinese during the Spring and Autumn period made the first practical use of natural gas for lighting purposes about 500 BC where they used bamboo pipelines to transport and carry both brine and natural gas for…
• Water turbine 250~ · achieved
  Type of turbine. Late 3rd century – Early 4th century: Water turbine in the Roman Empire in modern-day Tunisia.
• Well drilling 50 BCE~ · achieved
  Method of extracting a natural resource. Well drilling: The earliest record of well-drilling dates from AD 347, in China.
• Baghdad Battery 250 BCE~ · achieved
  Set of three artifacts which were found together: a ceramic pot, a tube of one metal, and a rod of another. 3rd century BC – The Baghdad Battery is dated from this period.
• Water mill 250 BCE · achieved
  Greek water wheels, 3rd century BC.
• Yakhchāl ice house 400 BCE · achieved
  Persian evaporative-cooling ice storage structures.
• Windcatcher (badgir) 500 BCE · achieved
  Persian passive ventilation towers.
• Stepwell 2,500 BCE~ · achieved
  Waterbody reached by steps. Stepwell – While the early history of stepwells is poorly understood, water structures in Western India were their likely predecessor.
• Levee 2,600 BCE~ · achieved
  Artificial ridge or wall to hold back water. 2600 BC: Levee in Indus Valley.
• Control of fire 1,000,000 BCE~ · achieved
  Habitual use of fire by Homo erectus, ~1 Mya (Wonderwerk Cave), widespread by ~400 kya.