Interesting Facts About Fuel

April 27, 2023

Motor gas and diesel are both types of fuel. Gas and fuel are not the same thing: Gas is a state of matter that has no shape and can be compressed. Fuel is something that is burned in order to release energy. Many fuels are gaseous. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) describes gasoline as “a fuel made from crude oil and other petroleum liquids. Gasoline is mainly used in vehicle engines.” Their description of diesel is: “the common term for the distillate fuel oil sold for use in motor vehicles that use the compression ignition engine named for its inventor, German engineer Rudolf Diesel … [and] is refined from crude oil and from biomass materials.” The main difference between using regular motor gas and diesel fuel is that diesel is thicker and provides more power and mileage per gallon. This is because diesel engines are built to withstand higher compression than gas engines, generally making them a more reliable and longer lasting vehicle. Diesel fuels used to be sold with high amounts of sulfur, which produced harmful emissions to human health. In 2006, the US Environmental Protection Agency implemented requirements to reduce sulfur content use in diesel fuels. On-highway and off-highway diesel fuel is now sold using ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD), which is 15 parts per million or less. 

Fuel is needed to power the important transportation across our country. Fossil fuels are dwindling every day and it’s important to conserve this precious resource. All fossil fuels come from plant decomposition that has taken place for millions of years, all of it initially residing underwater. Fossil fuels also include oil, coal, and natural gas. Outside of the US, gasoline is commonly called petrol, short for petroleum. Petroleum is a mixture of hydrocarbons present in some rock strata and is extracted to be refined for the production of fuels, including gasoline and diesel. One barrel of oil, which is about 42 gallons of crude oil, can be refined into about 19 gallons of gas. The EIA statistics show that Americans use about 135 billion gallons of gasoline each year, which includes fuel for motor vehicles, boats, small aircraft, agricultural equipment, and electrical generators. They state: “Motor gasoline is one of the major fuels consumed in the United States and is the main product that U.S. oil refineries produce.” 

A surprising fact to many people is that the US gets more oil from Canada and Mexico than the Middle East, with approximately 50 percent coming from Canada, 8 percent from Mexico, and about 5 percent from Saudi Arabia. Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserve with about 300 billion barrels. Saudi Arabia comes in as a close second with over 297 billion barrels. Comparatively, the US only has about 35 billion barrels. Our country’s first oil well was dug in a valley along a quiet creek in Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1859, but this wasn’t for vehicles, it was to meet demand for kerosene lamps. 

Fuel efficiency is important for money savings and the performance of your vehicle. Visit Pure Motoring Products to find high-quality enhancers for your personal vehicle to make sure it’s running at tip-top shape.  

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