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Its a very complex answer. Here's the short version. Millions of years ago plants absorbed energy from the sun. Those plants got buried and time, pressure and heat turned them into fossil fuels. We clean it up, run it through our engines, where with the proper amount of pressure and temperature the fossil fuel will release the energy stored from the sun millions of years ago and create heat.
The process is called combustion. Any hydrocarbon will combust if pressurized (heated) enough. Diesel fuel self ignites when subjected to about 22 to 1 compression. Gas engines assist the initial combustion with a spark plug.
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