Almost all innovations ultimately go back to the mastery of fire. Thus, the production of ceramics led from the earliest vessels to artificial teeth and joints to the computer chip. The open fire, in prehistoric times, the focal point of life as a source of heat and light and as a cooking place, is hardly visible in everyday life today. It has gone from being a once stationary source of heat, light, and energy to a transportable commodity that can be moved from one place to another.
Clean, soot-free and without physical effort - like collecting or chopping, wood - fire today, transformed into electricity and fed into power lines, can be switched on and off at any time in the household at the light switch. This technical progress leads to an ever-increasing demand for energy, which can hardly be met conventionally today. Alternative energy sources are therefore increasingly becoming the focus of research.