If you were to step into a time machine and travel back to 1900, the absence of energy related items would be mind-boggling. No electricity and no petroleum would be too much for us to imagine. Were our forefathers too ignorant to realize what was right under their noses?

In defense of a simpler time, there are still many natural components that we, as a society, have ignored and never studied, evaluated or put to good use. Energy can come relatively free from the sun, the wind and from yet another area that man has not even thought to dissect and realize as an option; cold light.

Luciferin is a chemical that, when combined with oxygen, lets off a substance called luciferase that creates light. Lightening bugs, or glow-worms possess this unique ability as do many sea creatures such as some shrimp species and sponges. Now, I am no biochemist but it appears to me that the properties and discoveries have already been made and are used in the medical field.

Fireflies are very efficient; about 96 percent of the chemical reaction is converted to light energy. Compared to a light bulb, only 10 percent is energy, the rest is heat loss. This is only one example of what our society could use to advance our own independence for energy as a nation.

I wish I understood the physics of the elements now available to us at no cost. You would think that the Edisons and the Einsteins of our world would be jumping at the chance to make a significant difference in restoring the planet to an even plateau for energy. We are unnecessarily spiraling toward a very black period in our history if someone doesn’t step up to the plate with new and creative ideas.

We have the imagination, we have the resources and we have the need. Now let’s use these assets that God gave us and get a handle on this earth.