TABLE OF CONTENTS Fuel sources (gas, liquid, and solid) are those sources that can be used to roduce fuels (gas, liquid, and solid), which are combustible or energy-generating molecular species that can be harnessed to create mechanical energy.
Petroleum-based fuels are well-established products that have served industry and consumers for more than one hundred years. Over the past four decades, in spite of the energy shocks of the 1970s, there has been rapid escalation in fuel demand to the point that many countries, particularly the United States, are net importers of petroleum and petroleum products and this is projected to continue (Fig. 1.1). However, the time is running out and these fuel sources, once considered inexhaustible, are now being depleted at a rapid rate. In fact, there is little doubt that the supplies of crude oil are being depleted with each year that passes. However, it is not clear just how long it will take to reach the bottom of the well!
Source: U.S. DOE EIA Annual energy outlook 2006.
The impact of an oil deficiency can be overcome by serious planning for the world beyond petroleum (the slogan used by BP, formerly British Petroleum) but it is a trade off. The trade off is between having a plentiful supply of liquid fuels versus the higher cost (initially with a fall in production costs as technology advances) for the petroleum replacements. The flaw...
