Fuel is any material that can be used to generate energy In physics, energy is a quantity that can be assigned to every particle, object, and system of objects as a consequence of the state of that particle, object or system of objects. Different forms of energy include kinetic, potential, thermal, gravitational, sound, elastic, light, and electromagnetic energy. The forms of energy are often named to produce mechanical work In physics, mechanical work is the amount of energy transferred by a force acting through a distance. Like energy, it is a scalar quantity, with SI units of joules. The term work was first coined in 1826 by the French mathematician Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis in a controlled manner. The processes used to convert fuel into energy include chemical reactions A chemical reaction is a process that leads to the transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. Chemical reactions can be either spontaneous, requiring no input of energy, or non-spontaneous, often coming about only after the input of some type of energy, viz. heat, light or electricity. Classically, chemical reactions encompass, such as combustion Combustion or burning is the sequence of exothermic chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat and conversion of chemical species. The release of heat can result in the production of light in the form of either glowing or a flame. Fuels of interest often include organic compounds in the gas, liquid or, and nuclear reactions, such as nuclear fission In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts , often producing free neutrons and photons (in the form of gamma rays), as well. Fission of heavy elements is an exothermic reaction which can release large amounts of energy both as electromagnetic radiation or nuclear fusion In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fusion is the process by which multiple atomic nuclei join together to form a single heavier nucleus. It is accompanied by the release or absorption of energy. Large scale fusion processes, involving many atoms fusing at once, must occur in matter which is at very high densities. Fuels are also used in the cells The cell is the functional basic unit of life. It was discovered by Robert Hooke and is the functional unit of all known living organisms. It is the smallest unit of life that is classified as a living thing, and is often called the building block of life. Some organisms, such as most bacteria, are unicellular . Other organisms, such as humans, of organisms In biology, an organism is any contiguous living system . In at least some form, all organisms are capable of response to stimuli, reproduction, growth and development, and maintenance of homoeostasis as a stable whole. An organism may either be unicellular (single-celled) or be composed of, as in humans, many trillions of cells grouped into in a process known as metabolism Metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that happen in living organisms to maintain life. These processes allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments. Metabolism is usually divided into two categories. Catabolism breaks down organic matter, for example to harvest energy in cellular. Hydrocarbons In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons from which one hydrogen atom has been removed are functional groups, called hydrocarbyls. Aromatic hydrocarbons , alkanes, alkenes, cycloalkanes and alkyne-based compounds are different types of hydrocarbons are by far the most common source of fuel in current use, but many other substances can be used as well.

Chemical

Chemical fuels are substances that generate energy by reacting with substances around them, most notably by the process of oxidation Redox describes all chemical reactions in which atoms have their oxidation number (oxidation state) changed. This can be either a simple redox process, such as the oxidation of carbon to yield carbon dioxide (CO2) or the reduction of carbon by hydrogen to yield methane (CH4), or a complex process such as the oxidation of sugar(C6H12O6) in the.

Biofuels

Biofuel Biofuels are a wide range of fuels which are in some way derived from biomass. The term covers solid biomass, liquid fuels and various biogases. Biofuels are gaining increased public and scientific attention, driven by factors such as oil price spikes, the need for increased energy security, and concern over greenhouse gas emissions from fossil can be broadly defined as solid, liquid, or gas fuel consisting of, or derived from biomass Biomass, a renewable energy source, is biological material derived from living, or recently living organisms, such as wood, waste, gas, and alcohol fuels. Biomass is commonly plant matter grown to generate electricity or produce heat. In this sense, living biomass can also be included, as plants can also generate electricity while still alive. The. Biomass can also be used directly for heating or power—known as biomass fuel. Biofuel can be produced from any carbon source that can be replenished rapidly e.g. plants. Many different plants and plant-derived materials are used for biofuel manufacture.

Perhaps the earliest fuel that was employed by humans is wood. Evidence shows controlled fire was used up to 1.5 million years ago at Swartkrans Swartkrans is a farm near to Sterkfontein, notable for being extremely rich in archaeological material, particularly hominid remains. It was purchased by the University of the Witwatersrand in 1968. The oldest deposits present at the site are believed to be between 1.8 and 2 million years old, South Africa Coordinates: 29°02′46″S 25°03′47″E / 29.046°S 25.063°E The Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a 2,798 kilometres coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland; while Lesotho is an independent. It is unknown which hominid species first used fire, as both Australopithecus Australopithecus is a genus of hominids that are now extinct. From the evidence gathered by palaeontologists and archaeologists, it appears that the Australopithecus genus evolved in eastern Africa around 4 million years ago before spreading throughout the continent and eventually becoming extinct 2 million years ago. During this time period, and an early species of Homo Homo is the genus that includes modern humans and species closely related to them. The genus is estimated to be about 2.3 to 2.4 million years old, evolving from australopithecine ancestors with the appearance of Homo habilis. Specifically, H. habilis is assumed to be the direct descendant of Australopithecus garhi which lived about 2.5 million were present at the sites.^[1] As a fuel, wood has remained in use up until the present day, although it has been superseded for many purposes by other sources. Wood has an energy density Energy density is a term used for the amount of energy stored in a given system or region of space per unit volume.[clarification needed] of 10–20 MJ The joule , named after James Prescott Joule, is the derived unit of energy in the International System of Units. It is the energy exerted by the force of one newton acting to move an object through a distance of one metre. In terms of dimensions:/kg The kilogram is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI, from the French Le Système International d’Unités),[Note 2] which is the modern standard governing the metric system. The kilogram is defined as being equal to the mass of the International Prototype Kilogram (IPK),[Note 3] which is almost exactly equal to the mass.^[2]

Recently biofuels have been developed for use in automotive transport (for example E10 fuel Ethanol and methanol (methyl alcohol) are two types of alcohol fuels. The use of pure alcohols in internal combustion engines is only possible if the engine is designed or modified for that purpose. However, in their anhydrous or pure forms, they can be mixed with gasoline (petrol) in various ratios for use in unmodified gasoline engines, and with), but there is widespread public debate about how carbon efficient these fuels are.

Fossil fuels

Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons from which one hydrogen atom has been removed are functional groups, called hydrocarbyls. Aromatic hydrocarbons , alkanes, alkenes, cycloalkanes and alkyne-based compounds are different types of hydrocarbons, primarily coal Coal is a readily combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock normally occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure. Coal is composed primarily of carbon along with variable and petroleum Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, toxic, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, and other organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling. It is refined and separated, most easily by (liquid petroleum Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, and other organic compounds, that is found in geologic formations beneath the earth's surface or natural gas Natural gas is a gas consisting primarily of methane. It is found associated with other fossil fuels, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes, bogs, and landfills. It is an important fuel source, a major feedstock for fertilizers, and a potent greenhouse gas), formed from the fossilized remains Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous (fossil-containing) rock formations and sedimentary layers (strata) is known as the fossil record. The study of fossils across geological time, how of dead plants and animals^[3] by exposure to heat and pressure in the Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets. It is sometimes referred to as the World, the Blue Planet,[note 6] or by its Latin name, Terra.[note 7]'s crust In geology, a crust is the outermost solid shell of a rocky planet or moon, which is chemically distinct from the underlying mantle. The crusts of Earth, our Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Io, and other planetary bodies have been generated largely by igneous processes, and these crusts are richer in incompatible elements than their respective mantles over hundreds of millions of years^[4]. In common parlance, the term fossil fuel also includes hydrocarbon-containing natural resources Natural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity existent in various ecosystems that are not derived entirely from biological sources, such as tar sands Oil sands, extra heavy oil, or tar sands, are a type of bitumen deposit. The sands are naturally occurring mixtures of sand or clay, water and an extremely dense and viscous form of petroleum called bitumen. They are found in large amounts in many countries throughout the world, but are found in extremely large quantities in Canada and Venezuela. These latter sources are properly known as mineral fuels.

Modern large-scale industrial development is based on fossil fuel use, which has largely supplanted water-driven mills, as well as the combustion of wood or peat Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world. By volume there are about 4 trillion m³ of peat in the world covering a total of around 2% of global land mass , for heat. With global modernization in the 20th and 21st centuries, the growth in energy production from fossil fuels, especially gasoline Gasoline or petrol is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture which is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It is also used as a solvent, mainly known for its ability to dilute paints derived from oil, is one of the causes of major regional and global conflicts and environmental issues. The promise of renewable energy Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . In 2008, about 19% of global final energy consumption came from renewables, with 13% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.2% from hydroelectricity. New renewables (small in meeting future energy needs is tempered by the fact that the popular renewables — solar, wind, hydroelectric and geothermal — produce electricy, not fuel, and thus are not direct substitutes for fossil fuels.

The burning of fossil fuels by humans is the largest source of emissions of carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom. It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure and exists in Earth's atmosphere in this state. CO2 is a trace gas comprising 0.039% of the atmosphere, which is one of the greenhouse gases Greenhouse gases are gases in an atmosphere that absorb and emit radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The main greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. In our solar system, the atmospheres of Venus, Mars and that enhances radiative forcing In climate science, radiative forcing is loosely defined as the change in net irradiance at the atmospheric boundary between the troposphere and the stratosphere . Net irradiance is the difference between the incoming radiation energy and the outgoing radiation energy in a given climate system and is measured in Watts per square meter. The change and contributes to global warming Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation. According to the 2007 Fourth Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , global surface temperature increased 0.74 ± 0.18 °C (1.33 ± 0.32 °F) during the 20th. The atmospheric concentration of CO₂, a greenhouse gas, is increasing, raising concerns that solar heat will be trapped and the average surface temperature The instrumental temperature record shows the fluctuations of the temperature of the atmosphere and the oceans as measured by temperature sensors. As is seen in the figure,The X axis represents the time, and the Y axis represents temperature anomaly in degree celsius. 'Anomaly' roughly means departure from a baseline. In this figure, the 1961-1990 of the Earth will rise in response.^{[citation needed]}

Nuclear

Nuclear fuel is any material that is consumed to derive nuclear energy Nuclear power is energy produced from controlled nuclear reactions. Commercial plants currently use nuclear fission reactions to generate electricity. Electric utility reactors heat water to produce steam, which is then used to generate electricity. Technically speaking this definition includes all matter because any element will under the right conditions release nuclear energy, the only materials that are commonly referred to as nuclear fuels though are those that will produce energy without being placed under extreme duress.

Fission

The most common type of nuclear fuel used by humans is heavy fissile In nuclear engineering, a fissile material is one that is capable of sustaining a chain reaction of nuclear fission elements that can be made to undergo nuclear fission In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts , often producing free neutrons and photons (in the form of gamma rays), as well. Fission of heavy elements is an exothermic reaction which can release large amounts of energy both as electromagnetic radiation chain reactions A chain reaction is a sequence of reactions where a reactive product or by-product causes additional reactions to take place. In a chain reaction, positive feedback leads to a self-amplifying chain of events in a nuclear fission reactor A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate, control, and sustain a nuclear chain reaction. The most common use of nuclear reactors is for the generation of electrical power and for the power in some ships (see Nuclear marine propulsion). This is usually accomplished by methods that involve using heat from the nuclear reaction to power steam; nuclear fuel can refer to the material or to physical objects (for example fuel bundles composed of fuel rods Nuclear fuel is a material that can be consumed to derive nuclear energy, by analogy to chemical fuel that is burned for energy. Nuclear fuels are the most dense sources of energy available. Nuclear fuel in a nuclear fuel cycle can refer to the fuel itself, or to physical objects composed of the fuel material, mixed with structural, neutron) composed of the fuel material, perhaps mixed with structural, neutron moderating In nuclear engineering, a neutron moderator is a medium which reduces the speed of fast neutrons, thereby turning them into thermal neutrons capable of sustaining a nuclear chain reaction involving uranium-235, or neutron reflecting materials. The most common fissile nuclear fuels are ²³⁵U Uranium-235 is an isotope of uranium making up about 0.72% of natural uranium. Unlike the predominant isotope uranium-238 it is fissile, i.e. it can sustain fission chain reaction. It is the only fissile isotope that is a primordial nuclide or found in significant quantity in nature and ²³⁹Pu, and the actions of mining, refining, purifying, using, and ultimately disposing of these elements together make up the nuclear fuel cycle, which is important for its relevance to nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons.

Fusion

Fuels that produce energy by the process of nuclear fusion are currently not utilized by man but are the main source of fuel for stars, the most powerful energy sources in nature. Fusion fuels tend to be light elements such as hydrogen which will combine easily.

In stars that undergo nuclear fusion, fuel consists of atomic nuclei that can release energy by the absorption of a proton or neutron. In most stars the fuel is provided by hydrogen, which can combine together to form helium through the proton-proton chain reaction or by the CNO cycle. When the hydrogen fuel is exhausted, nuclear fusion can continue with progressively heavier elements, although the net energy released is lower because of the smaller difference in nuclear binding energy. Once iron-56 or nickel-56 nuclei are produced, no further energy can be obtained by nuclear fusion as these have the highest nuclear binding energies.^[5]

World trade

World Bank reported that the USA was the top fuel importer in 2005 followed by the EU and Japan.^{[citation needed]}

Use over time

The first use of fuel was the combustion of wood or sticks by Homo erectus near 2 million years ago.^{[6][page needed]} Throughout the majority of human history fuels derived from plants or animal fat were the only ones available for human use. Charcoal, a wood derivative, has been used since at least 6,000 BCE for smelting metals. It was only supplanted by coke, derived from coal, as the forests started to become depleted around the 18th century. Charcoal briquettes are now commonly used as a fuel for barbecue cooking.^[7]

Coal was first used as a fuel around 1000 BCE in China. With the development of the steam engine in 1769, coal came into more common use as a power source. Coal was later used to drive ships and locomotives. By the 19th century, gas extracted from coal was being used for street lighting in London. In the 20th century, the primary use of coal is for the generation of electricity, providing 40% of the world's electrical power supply in 2005.^[8]

See also

• Alcohol fuel
• Alternative fuels
• Ammonia
• Battery (electricity)
• Bitumen-based fuel
• Cryogenic fuel
• Fuel cell
• Fuel oil
• Fuel card
• Fuel management systems
• Fuel poverty
• Hydrogen economy
• Hydrogen fuel
• Liquid fuels
• List of energy topics
• Marine fuel management
• Propellant
• recycled fuel
• Solid fuel
• World energy resources and consumption

Footnotes

1. ^ Rincon, Paul (2004-03-22). "Bones hint at first use of fire". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3557077.stm. Retrieved 2007-09-11.
2. ^ Elert, Glenn (2007). "Chemical Potential Energy". The Physics Hypertextbook. http://hypertextbook.com/physics/matter/energy-chemical/. Retrieved 2007-09-11.
3. ^ Dr. Irene Novaczek. "Canada's Fossil Fuel Dependency". Elements. http://www.elements.nb.ca/theme/fuels/irene/novaczek.htm. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
4. ^ "Fossil fuel". EPA. http://oaspub.epa.gov/trs/trs_proc_qry.navigate_term?p_term_id=7068&p_term_cd=TERM. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
5. ^ Fewell, M. P. (1995). "The atomic nuclide with the highest mean binding energy". American Journal of Physics 63 (7): 653–658. doi:10.1119/1.17828. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1995AmJPh..63..653F.
6. ^ Leakey, Richard (1994). Origin of Humankind. Basic Books. ISBN 0465031358. http://books.google.com/?id=75-cwH1905QC&pg=PR9&dq=%22first+use+of+Fire%22.
7. ^ Hall, Loretta (2007). "Charcoal Briquette". How Products Are Made. http://www.madehow.com/Volume-4/Charcoal-Briquette.html. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
8. ^ "History of Coal Use". World Coal Institute. http://www.worldcoal.org/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=107. Retrieved 2006-08-10.

References

• Ratcliff, Brian et al. (2000). Chemistry 1. Cambridge University press. ISBN 0-521-78778-5.

Further reading

• Directive 1999/94/EC of the European Parliament and of the council of 13 December 1999, relating to the availability of consumer information on fuel economy and CO2 emissions in respect of the marketing of new passenger carsPDF (140 KiB).
• Council Directive 80/1268/EEC Fuel consumption of motor vehicles.

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