Introduction Charcoal is a formless mass of carbon and can be made from most carbonaceous materials. It is one of the oldest of man-made fuels and has been prepared under the ground for a thousand years. Charcoal is still a major source of energy throughout the world. Charcoal is a black substance that resembles coal and is used as a source of fuel. Charcoal is generally made from wood that has been burnt, or charred, while being deprived of oxygen so that what's left is an impure carbon residue. While charcoal is used in the manufacture of various objects from crayons to filters, its most common use is as a fuel. One of charcoal's most common fuel uses is for cooking. Charcoal produces a heat that is hotter and burns cleaner than wood, making it ideal for cooking. Though charcoal as a heat source has been around for centuries, Henry Ford is credited with cornering the US market for mass produced charcoal for backyard grilling. Many people debate the use of gas versus charcoal heat for grilling foods, but a vast number of people prefer charcoal. Commercially, charcoal for grilling comes most frequently in the form of briquettes, small pre-formed blocks of charcoal. These are made cheaply, often from sawdust bound together with a type of glue and then charred in ovens. More expensive grilling charcoal can be found, made of hardwood without the glue, and some people prefer it to avoid a flavoring they believe comes from the glue residue that remains in the cheaper made forms. Some charcoal is also self-lighting, meaning it is already infused with lighter fluid, which some grilling gurus will tell you also affects the flavor of food. Much like the old process, the modern commercial process is to heat wood with little or no air present which takes special but simple equipment. In the United States, wood is the primary material used for charcoal and is generally procured in the form of residue like sawmill slabs and edgings. Sawmills love to find users of this material because of environment problems with burning and disposal. Where there are sawmills, there is available raw product. It has been estimated that there are nearly 2,000 charcoal-producing units in the United States, including brick kilns, concrete and masonry block kilns, sheet steel, kilns, and retorts (a steel metal building). The state of Missouri produces a lot of this national charcoal product (they have until recently had less stringent environmental regulations) and 98 percent of all charcoal is produced in the eastern United States. While charcoal can be made from any number of natural materials, hardwoods such as hickory, oak, maple, and fruitwoods are favored. They have unique aromas and tend to produce a better grade of charcoal. Better grades of charcoal come from raw materials with low sulfur content. Uses of charcoal may surprise you. Besides being the fuel that cooks steaks, hotdogs, and hamburgers on a Sunday picnic, charcoal is used in many other processes. It is used in certain metallurgical "purifying" treatments and as a filter to remove organic compounds such as chlorine, gasoline, pesticides, and other toxic chemicals from water and air. Activated charcoal which has a super adsorptive surface, is growing in use. It is used in purifying and refining metals and in the gas masks that were used during the Gulf War. NutraSweet (tm) uses activated charcoal to transform the product into a powder. Activated charcoal is used as an antidote for many types of poisons and is touted as an effective anti-flatulent. Most charcoal manufacturers sell their product as a briquette. This market has been dominated by several companies to include Kingsford and Royal Oak. They do not make "lump" charcoal which is an alternate product that has advantages and has potential as a startup business. Other names: active carbon, absorbent charcoal, medicinal charcoal