Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge.

These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire. In addition, electricity encompasses less familiar concepts such as the electromagnetic field and electromagnetic induction. The word is from the New Latin lectricus, "amber-like"[a], coined in the year 1600 from the Greek (electron) meaning amber (hardened plant resin), because electrical effects were produced classically by rubbing amber. In general usage, the word "electricity" adequately refers to a number of physical effects. In a scientific context, however, the term is vague, and these related, but distinct, concepts are better identified by more precise terms:

Electric charge: a property of some subatomic particles, which determines their electromagnetic interactions. Electrically charged matter is influenced by, and produces, electromagnetic fields.

Electric current: a movement or flow of electrically charged particles, typically measured in amperes. Electric field: an influence produced by an electric charge on other charges in its vicinity. Electric potential: the capacity of an electric field to do work on an electric charge, typically measured in volts. Electromagnetism: a fundamental interaction between the magnetic field and the presence and motion of an electric charge.

The most common use of the word "electricity" is less precise. It refers to:

Electric power provided commercially by the electrical power industry. In a loose but common use of the term, "electricity" may be used to mean "wired for electricity" which means a workingconnection to an electric power station. Such a connection grants the user of "electricity" access to the electric field present in electrical wiring, and thus to electric power.

Electrical phenomena have been studied since antiquity, though advances in the science were not made until the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Practical applic ations for electricity however remained few, and it would not be until the late nineteenth century that engineers were able to put it to industrial and residential use. The rapid

expansion in electrical technology at this time transformed industry and society. Electricity's extraordinary versatility as a source of energy means it can be put to an almost limitless set of applications which include transport, heating, lighting,communications, and computation. Electrical power is the backbone of modern industrial society, and is expected to remain so for the foreseeable future

Static electricity refers to the build-up of electric charge on the surface of objects. The static charges remain on an object until they either bleed off to ground or are quickly neutralized by a discharge. Static electricity can be contrasted with current (or dynamic) electricity, which can be delivered through wires as a power source.[1] Although charge exchange can happen whenever any two surfaces come into contact and separate, a static charge only remains when at least one of the surfaces has a high resistance to electrical flow (an electrical insulator). The effects of static electricity are familiar to most people because people can feel, hear, and even see the spark as the excess charge is neutralized when brought close to a large electrical conductor (for example, a path to ground), or a region with an excess charge of the opposite polarity (positive or negative). The familiar phenomenon of a static 'shock' is caused by the neutralization of charge.

Electric current is a flow of electric charge through a medium.[1] This charge is typically carried by moving electrons in a conductor such as wire. It can also be carried by ions in an electrolyte, or by both ions and electrons in a plasma.[2] The SI unit for measuring the rate of flow of electric charge is the ampere, which is charge flowing through some surface at the rate of one coulomb per second. Electric current is measured using an ammeter.[1] Fuel is any material that stores energy that can later be extracted to perform mechanical work in a controlled manner. Most fuels used by humans undergo combustion, a redox reaction in which a combustible substance releases energy after it ignites and reacts with the oxygen in the air. Other processes used to convert fuel into energy include various other exothermic chemical reactions and nuclear reactions, such asnuclear fission or nuclear fusion. Fuels are also used in the cells of organisms in a process known as cellular respiration, where organic molecules are oxidized to release usable energy. Hydrocarbons are by far the most common source of fuel used by humans, but many other substances, such as radioactive metals, are currently used as well .

FUELS considered here are those elaborated by or otherwise rendered available by living systems. The discussion is limited to a short geological time scale, thus eliminating the fossil fuels from direct consideration. Fossil fuels are described in considerable detail in earlier portions of this Handbook. Energy and carbon are obtained by organisms either directly or indirectly via the photosynthetic conversion of solar energy. These organisms have evolved metabolic machineries for the photochemical reduction of carbon dioxide to organic matter and/or for the subsequent utilization of the organics for biosynthesis and controlled energy Iiberation. These metabolic routes can be exploited to provide fuels from biochemical sources. The majority of the bioengineering strategies for biochemically derived fuels involve options for the disposition of organic matter produced via photosynthate. The bulk of the presently exploited photosynthate is directed toward the production of wood, food, and feed. During processing and consumption, waste organic materials are generated which can be used for energy production via combustion, pyrolysis or biochemical conversions to ethanol, hydrogen, methane, and isopropanol. A second option is to engineer the photosynthetic apparatus to provide hydrogen. The third strategy is the cultivation of crops as energy sources, i.e., the farming of an energy crop which can be used as an energy source via the foregoing processes. The discussion here follows this general outline -- photosynthesis to organic matter, photosynthesis to hydrogen, and biochemical conversion of organic matter to fuels. Several other topics are discussed briefly, including the microbiological extraction of shale oil, conversion economics, and the application of biochemical engineering principles to fuel generation. Cross references at the end of this discussion are given to other areas of this Handbook where some of these topics are covered in even greater detail.

Fuel is important because without it our machines would'nt work like our vehicles or keeping us warm