Diesel fuel

Russia’s effort to conscript 300,000 reservists to counter Ukraine’s military advances in Kharkiv has drawn a lot of attention from military and political analysts. But there’s also a potential energy angle. Energy conflicts between Russia and Europe are escalating and likely could worsen as winter approaches. One might assume that energy workers, who provide fuel and export revenue that Russia desperately needs, are too valuable to the war effort to be conscripted. So far, banking and information technology workers have received an official nod to stay in their jobs. The situation for oil and gas workers is murkier, including swirling bits of Russian media disinformation about whether the sector will or won’t be targeted for mobilization. Either way, I expect Russia’s oil and gas operations to be destabilized by the next phase of the war. The explosions in September 2022 that damaged the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines from Russia to Europe, an...

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com. Why do we use gasoline for small vehicles and diesel fuel for big vehicles? – Methdini, age 15, Sri Lanka Gasoline fuels most light-duty vehicles, such as passenger cars and pickup trucks. Heavy-duty vehicles, like buses, delivery trucks and long-haul tractor-trailers, typically run on diesel. Both fuel types are needed because gasoline and diesel engines have different strengths. As my automotive engineering students learn, this makes them suitable for different uses. Let’s start with what they have in common. Gas and diesel engines both work through a process called internal combustion. First, they mix fuel with air because the fuel needs oxygen from the air to burn. Next, they compress the fuel-air mixture, which ma...