Final answer:
The controlled use of fire by hominids significantly contributed to their geographical expansion and the development of food production techniques, enabling the consumption of a wider variety of foods and providing advantages for survival and social organization.
Step-by-step explanation:
The controlled use of fire by hominids represents a critical step in human evolution and survival strategies, offering numerous advantages. Using fire for warmth, protection, cooking, tool-making, and social cohesion, hominids improved their efficiency in consuming meat and other food sources, which supported brain development and social structures necessary for cooperative living and technological advances. Far from decreasing food energy or limiting hominids' expansion, the ability to create and control fire greatly contributed to geographical expansion and improved food production techniques in significant ways as it allowed hominids to extend into new environments and adapt to diverse ecosystems.