Introduction

1. Wood: wood is obtained from logs or poles of trees. The wood used as fuel in Tanzania is obtained from natural and artificial forests.
2. Charcoal: This fuel is made by heating certain substances such as wood and bones in a limited supply of air. Wood charcoal is the main source of fuel in urban areas and in some townships.
3. Coal: It is used indirectly for generating electricity or directly for powering machines in processing and manufacturing industries and factories. The electricity generated from coal is used in such industries
4. Natural gas: The gas is used as a fuel at homes and in small industries. It is also used to generate electricity that is used in various manufacturing and processing industries. The electricity generated from this gas is also sold to Tanzania Electricity Supply Company (TANESCO) who distributes the energy to its various clients.
5. Petroleum products (kerosene, diesel, petrol, fuel oil, fuel gas, etc.) These petroleum fractions are obtained from crude oil by the process of fractional distillation of crude oil (petroleum). Diesel, petrol and oil are used in vehicles and other machines. Kerosene is used in kerosene lamps and stoves for heating at homes and for other general purposes.

Procedure for making wood charcoal

1. Cut wood into small pieces.
2. Arrange the wood pieces into a pile of wood on the ground.
3. Cover the pieces of wood with soil, leaving one open space for setting fire.
4. Set fire to the wood and then cover the open space with soil. Make sure that the wood is burning.
5. After the wood is burned, uncover the soil and pull out the black solid substance underneath. This is the charcoal.

Coal is formed from the remains of lush vegetation that once grew in warm shallow coastal swamps.

The following are the stages in the process of coal formation:

1. The dead vegetation collects in the bottom of the swamp. It may start to decay
2. The vegetation is buried under debris.
3. Over hundreds of thousands of years, the environment changes. Seas flood the swamps. Heavy layers of sediment pile up on the dead vegetation, squeezing out gas and water and turning it into peat.
4. As the peat is buried deeper, the increasing heat and pressure compress it progressively to form different types of coal.
5. As the process continues, the coal gets harder and more compact. Its carbon content also increases, giving different types of coal.