Current energy crisis and its economic and environmental consequences Intense human cooperation.docVIP

Vol.5, No.2A, 244-252 (2013) Natural Science /10.4236/ns.2013.52A036 Current energy crisis and its economic and environmental consequences: Intense human cooperation Marcelo S. Sthel , José G. R. Tostes , Juliana R. Tavares 1* 1 1,2 1 * 2 Center of Science and Technology, North Fluminense State University, Campos dos Goytacazes, Brazil; Corresponding Author: sthel@uenf.br Coordenation of Natural Sciences and Mathmatics, Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology, Campos dos Goytacazes, Brazil Received 11 December 2012; revised 15 January 2013; accepted 27 January 2013 ABSTRACT paring the rates of energy use by our ancestors to modern men, we noticed a significant change. Analyzing a hunting and gathering society of homo sapiens, before the advent of agriculture, we can notice that their daily energy needs were approaching 2500 kilocalories per person to hunt, fish, gather, defend and reproduce. On the other hand, the energy needs of modern men, depending on their ecological footprint [2,3] can reach more than 100 times the energy needs of the hunter-gatherer societies. One of the most important energy source used by prehistoric man, besides the food, is the fire, obtained from dry biomass. Its use is reported for at least 500,000 years. As a source of light and heat, the fire became important for defense, protection against the cold and cooking of food. Throughout the evolutionary path, the fire is also used for heat treatment of some materials. In the social sphere, the fire introduces an important factor that defines a new space for humans around the campfire, changing the group structure, thus broadening the social contact between individuals. Ten thousand years ago, a period known as the “Neolithic revolution” [4,5] begins. This period i