Our distant ancestors of the cave were also warmed up by the fires. The flames were also used for lighting and cooking. Fire was supported by firewood, and it was they, these pieces of wood, that were the main fuel for mankind for a long time.
- With the help of firewood, the inhabitants of the Earth solved many problems: they warmed up, cooked food, and even started to melt metals (though for this purpose, firewood was first turned into charcoal). The tree played such a decisive role in the life of society that there is a mention of "wandering" cities in history. For example, the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, has in the past migrated constantly from place to place as people cut down the surrounding forests.
- But as the centuries passed, there were more and more people on the planet and fewer and fewer forests. And in the XIX century England - the most advanced industrial country of that time - was hit by the fuel crisis. Wood on the island is no longer sufficient for the needs of the population and industry. It was urgent to look for a replacement.
- The search, however, was short-lived. People have known that coal and oil can also burn well for a long time. However, it is one thing to know and another to use this knowledge in practice. After all, coal and oil should be searched for and extracted. And it is also necessary to be able to sink them. For example, coal will not catch fire from a match like firewood. And conventional furnaces for oil are not suitable at all.
- But the need will teach everything. In England, and then in other countries of the world, they have learned to burn coal even better over time than wood. Of course, this did not mean that the firewood was immediately forgotten. They are needed even to ignite coal. And in places where forests were abundant, firewood was still widely used. Thus, in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, firewood produced more than half of all energy, one-fourth of coal and one-sixth of oil.
- "One madman suggests lighting London - what would you think? Imagine smoke! - That's what Walter Scott wrote in a letter to one of his friends, unaware that the smoke, or gas, maybe even the horns after London will soon appear in Paris, New York, Berlin, St. Petersburg and Moscow.
- In those days, luminous gas was produced by processing coal. But at the beginning of the 20th century, they realized that the gas that comes out of the Earth's depths burns just as well. Unnecessary proof of this is the gas stoves, which still stand in many houses to this day.
- In 1910, as statistics show, most of the world's fuel was already coal - 65%. It was followed by firewood and oil was the last one. Its share in the global fuel balance was only 3%, and natural gas was not used at all.
- A quarter of a century later, the share of coal in the fuel mix fell to half, while the share of oil in the fuel mix increased to 15%. In many countries around the world, natural gas has also begun to be used.
- Even more dramatic changes have taken place in Russia. Already in the first five years, the country began to rapidly increase the rate of coal production. Lenin called coal the "Bread and Bread Industry", and the country did not want to keep its developing industry on a hungry ration. Annually, the coal industry gave an increase of more than 100%. From 1930 to 1940, coal production tripled: from 70 to 220 million tons per year. Similar rates were maintained in the first post-war years. During the five-year period from 1950 to 1955, an increase of 170 million tons was achieved.
- And yet, despite such rapid growth of the coal industry, it gradually lost its leading position.
- In the 70s, oil confidently took first place in the fuel balance - about 35%. The share of hard coal decreased to 30%. The third place was taken by natural gas - about 20%. Then there was firewood - 10%. Other energy sources, including water- and nuclear-powered power plants, gave only 5% of the energy.
- Nowadays, oil and gas are in the lead, accounting for more than two-thirds of the fuel balance.
- Why did this happen? After all, there is still plenty of coal today: its proven reserves amount to 1075 billion tons - 87.5% of the total fuel reserves of the planet. And the thing is that oil and gas are more convenient to operate. Here is just one example: coal was thrown into the furnace with spades by chumazy coaches; liquid and gaseous fuel can be easily supplied by pumps through pipes and burning - by injectors and burners.
- These amenities are particularly visible on transport. Today, almost all fuel needs of ships and diesel locomotives, planes and cars, tractors and motorcycles are met by oil and gas.
- This trend is likely to continue for a long time to come. Because oil and gas burn better than any other fuel. Thus, when 1 kg of oil is burned, 46 thousand kJ is emitted, when 1 m3 of gas is burned - about 38 thousand kJ, while 1 kg of coal gives at best only 29 thousand kJ. In other words, the heat of oil combustion is about 1.5 times higher than that of coal, and more than twice the heat of wood combustion. And this also has to be taken into account.
So, as you can see, in contrast to arithmetic, the overall picture can change dramatically in the fuel balance due to the change in the places of the components.