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Article: Fuels and Fuel Chemistry
- Article from:
- World of Earth Science
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Fuels and fuel chemistry
A fuel is any compound that has stored energy. This energy is captured in
chemical bonds
through processes such as photosynthesis and respiration. Energy is released during oxidation. The most common form of oxidation is the direct reaction of a fuel with
oxygen
through combustion. Wood, gasoline,
coal
, and any number of other fuels have energy-rich chemical bonds created using the energy from the
Sun
, which is released when the fuel is burned (i.e., the release of chemical energy). Chemical fuels or the fossil fuels are useful reserve of fuels and are therefore used extensively to satisfy the demands of an energy-dependent civilization.
Fossil fuels are ...