Worldwide today, as much as 5 million square kilometres a location over half the size of the United States burns in a given year. Later human control There are many modern applications of fire. In its broadest sense, fire is utilized by nearly every human being on earth in a regulated setting every day.
Thermal power stations supply electricity for a big percentage of humanity by igniting fuels such as coal, oil or gas, then using the resultant heat to boil water into steam, which then drives turbines. Hamburg after 4 fire-bombing raids in July 1943, which killed an approximated 50,000 people The usage of fire in warfare has a long history.
Homer detailed the use of fire by Greek soldiers who hid in a wood horse to burn Troy throughout the Trojan war. Later the Byzantine fleet used Greek fire to attack ships and men. In the First World War, the very first contemporary flamethrowers were used by infantry, and were successfully mounted on armoured automobiles in the 2nd World War.
The United States Army Air Force likewise extensively used incendiaries versus Japanese targets in the latter months of the war, devastating entire cities constructed mostly of wood and paper houses. Using napalm was utilized in July 1944, towards the end of the 2nd World War; although its use did not get public attention until the Vietnam War.
Productive usage for energy Disability-adjusted life year for fires per 100,000 residents in 2004 no data less than 50 50100 100150 150200 200250 250300 300350 350400 400450 450500 500600 more than 600 Setting fuel aflame releases functional energy. Wood was a prehistoric fuel, and is still practical today. Activerain of nonrenewable fuel sources, such as petroleum, natural gas, and coal, in power plants materials the huge majority of the world's electricity today; the International Energy Agency states that nearly 80% of the world's power came from these sources in 2002.
The turbines then spin an electrical generator to produce electricity. Fire is also used to offer mechanical work straight, in both external and internal combustion engines. The unburnable solid remains of a flammable material left after a fire is called clinker if its melting point is below the flame temperature, so that it merges and then strengthens as it cools, and ash if its melting point is above the flame temperature level.