Why is charcoal considered a better fuel than wood?

Why is charcoal considered a better fuel than wood? What are the disadvantages of converting wood into charcoal?

Answer:
Charcoal is considered a better fuel than wood because:

  • It has high calorific value.
  • It does not produce any smoke.

Disadvantages:

  • 1 kg of wood on destructive distillation produces only 0.25 kg of charcoal making it an expensive fuel.
  • For production of charcoal, more and more trees would have to be cut down which causes deforestation and disturbs the ecological balance of the Earth.