Your Guide to the Cottage Industry Revolution
“Fuel” generally refers to a substance that will release heat that can be used as heat, light, and power. On our planet, that means three things: elemental (and highly flammable) hydrogen, organic hydrocarbons that can be burned, and radioactive elements that can be coaxed into a (controllable) nuclear reaction. There are many of the former, only two of the latter (uranium and plutonium). All hydrocarbons are of organic origin, meaning that they were manufactured by a living organism. The fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and petroleum), are the result of organic materials being subjected to temperature, pressure, and time. As a result of this process, they are extremely concentrated and powerful fuel sources. Hydrocarbons extracted from living plants are not as concentrated — the advantage, of course, is that they are renewable. Hydrocarbons have three general sources: