Gasoline, or petrol, is a clear petroleum-derived flammable liquid, used as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines. It consists of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. On average, a 42-U. S.-gallon barrel of crude oil yields about 19 U. S. gallons of gasoline after processing in an oil refinery, though this varies based on the crude oil assay. The characteristic of a particular gasoline blend to resist igniting too early is measured by its octane rating, produced in several grades. Tetraethyl lead and other lead compounds are no longer used in most areas to increase octane rating. Other chemicals are added to gasoline to improve chemical stability and performance characteristics, control corrosiveness and provide fuel system cleaning. Gasoline may contain oxygen-containing chemicals such as ethanol, MTBE or ETBE to improve combustion. Gasoline used in internal combustion engines can have significant effects on the local environment, is a contributor to global human carbon dioxide emissions.

Gasoline can enter the environment uncombusted, both as liquid and as vapor, from leakage and handling during production and delivery. As an example of efforts to control such leakage, many underground storage tanks are required to have extensive measures in place to detect and prevent such leaks. Gasoline contains other known carcinogens. "Gasoline" is an English word. The Oxford English Dictionary dates its first recorded use to 1863 when it was spelled "gasolene"; the term "gasoline" was first used in North America in 1864. The word is a derivation from the word "gas" and the chemical suffixes "-ol" and "-ine" or "-ene". However, the term may have been influenced by the trademark "Cazeline" or "Gazeline". On 27 November 1862, the British publisher, coffee merchant and social campaigner John Cassell placed an advertisement in The Times of London: The Patent Cazeline Oil, safe and brilliant … possesses all the requisites which have so long been desired as a means of powerful artificial light.

This is the earliest occurrence of the word to have been found. Cassell discovered that a shopkeeper in Dublin named Samuel Boyd was selling counterfeit cazeline and wrote to him to ask him to stop. Boyd did not reply and changed every ‘C’ into a ‘G’, thus coining the word "gazeline". In most Commonwealth countries, the product is called "petrol", rather than "gasoline". "Petrol" was first used in about 1870, as the name of a refined petroleum product sold by British wholesaler Carless, Capel & Leonard, which marketed it as a solvent. When the product found a new use as a motor fuel, Frederick Simms, an associate of Gottlieb Daimler, suggested to Carless that they register the trademark "petrol", but by that time the word was in general use inspired by the French pétrole, the registration was not allowed. Carless registered a number of alternative names for the product, but "petrol" nonetheless became the common term for the fuel in the British Commonwealth. British refiners used "motor spirit" as a generic name for the automotive fuel and "aviation spirit" for aviation gasoline.

When Carless was denied a trademark on "petrol" in the 1930s, its competitors switched to the more popular name "petrol". However, "motor spirit" had made its way into laws and regulations, so the term remains in use as a formal name for petrol; the term is used most in Nigeria, where the largest petroleum companies call their product "premium motor spirit". Although "petrol" has made inroads into Nigerian English, "premium motor spirit" remains the formal name, used in scientific publications, government reports, newspapers; the use of the word gasoline instead of petrol is uncommon outside North America given the usual shortening of gasoline to gas, because various forms of gaseous products are used as automotive fuel, such as compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas. In many languages, the name of the product is derived from benzene, such as Benzin in German or benzina in Italian. Argentina and Paraguay use the colloquial name nafta derived from that of the chemical naphtha.

The first internal combustion engines suitable for use in transportation applications, so-called Otto engines, were developed in Germany during the last quarter of the 19th century. The fuel for these early engines was a volatile hydrocarbon obtained from coal gas. With a boiling point near 85 °C, it was well-suited for early carburetors; the development of a "spray nozzle" carburetor enabled the use of less volatile fuels. Further improvements in engine efficiency were attempted at higher compression ratios, but early attempts were blocked by the premature explosion of fuel, known as knocking. In 1891, the Shukhov cracking process became the world's first commercial method to break down heavier hydrocarbons in crude oil to increase the percentage of lighter products compared to simple distillation; the evolution of gasoline followed the evolution of oil as the dominant source of energy in the industrializing world. Prior to World War One, Britain was the world's greatest industrial power and depended on its navy to protect the shipping of raw materials from its colonies.

Germany was industrializing and, like Britain, lacked many natural resources which had to be shipped to the home count

TV pickup is a term used in the United Kingdom to refer to a phenomenon that affects electricity generation and transmission networks. It occurs when a large number of people watch the same TV programmes while taking advantage of breaks in programming to use toilets and operate electrical appliances, thus causing large synchronised surges in national electricity consumption. Electricity networks devote considerable resources to predicting and providing electricity supply for these events, which in the UK, for example impose an extra demand of around 200–400 megawatts on the National Grid. Short-term supply is obtained from pumped storage reservoirs, which can be brought online, backed up by the slower fossil fuel and nuclear power stations; the largest pickup was on 4 July 1990, when a 2800 MW demand was imposed by the ending of the penalty shootout in the England v West Germany FIFA World Cup semi-final. In addition to pickups, the Grid prepares for synchronised switch-offs during remembrance and energy-awareness events.

TV pickups occur during breaks in popular television programmes and are a surge in demand caused by the flushing of toilets and the opening of fridge doors by millions of people. There is a common misconception. In fact, this only creates a pull on the local network for a short period of time until the water has boiled, can therefore be managed easily, whereas flushing the toilet causes a longer surge at the water and sewerage pumping stations, opening the refrigerator lets the chilled air escape, causing the compressor to run; these loads are more of a problem for the grid. The phenomenon is common in the UK, where individual programmes can attract a large audience share; the introduction of a wider range of TV channels is mitigating the effect, but it remains a large concern for the National Grid operators. There are several large peaks in energy use caused by TV pickup during each day, dependent on TV schedules, the day of the week and weather; the largest pickup of the day is at 21:00, when several popular TV programmes end or go to commercial breaks.

The most popular programmes, hence those giving the greatest pickup are soaps, sporting events, reality TV. A typical TV pickup imposes an extra demand of 200–400 megawatts, with larger soap storylines bringing around 700–800 MW. A sudden increase in demand, unmatched by an increase in supply, causes a drop in the mains frequency across the Grid; the National Grid Energy Balancing Team is responsible for ensuring an adequate supply of electricity and try to ensure a frequency of between 49.5 and 50.5 Hz is maintained. To prepare for pickups the team runs a computer program that compares the current day with corresponding periods over the past five years to predict the size of demand, studies TV schedules to anticipate demand from popular shows. Grid employees must be familiar with popular soap-opera storylines as one might cause a sudden rise in demand. Owing to this, they are aware of what shows attract the largest audiences and of customers' television choices. How sad is that?"Sporting events like tennis matches are difficult because of the impossibility of predicting when one will end.

International football finals are a particular problem as research has shown that 71% of people in the UK will watch them at home instead of public venues such as pubs. The Grid predicted a pickup of around 3000 MW, equivalent to 1.2 million kettles being turned on at once, if England made the stages of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It is important to predict demand as as possible as electricity grids are not capable of storing electricity in large quantities and all power stations have a lead-in time before generation can begin. Balancing teams attempt to meet short term fluctuations with "fast reserves" that are quick to come online, backed up with longer term fossil fuel-based "balance mechanism units"; the shortest lead-in times are on pumped storage reservoirs, such as the Dinorwig Power Station that has the fastest response time of any pumped storage station in the world at just 12 seconds to produce 1320 MW. Once the longer term fossil fuel stations, which have response times around half an hour, nuclear power stations, which can take longer, come online pumped storage stations can be turned off and the water returned to the reservoir.

The largest TV pickups recorded in the UK are: Other events can cause bigger pickups for the National Grid than television events. Following the solar eclipse of 11 August 1999 there was a record demand of 3000 MW; this was the largest rapid increase that the grid had experienced but it had been anticipated and sufficient generating plant were made ready to accommodate the additional demand. Around 1000 MW of the demand was due to traditional TV pick-up demand caused by kettles, with the remainder arising from the return of people to their workplaces; the Grid plans for the opposite effect, a co-ordinated mass switch-off of appliances. Boxing Day is according to one employee, "the lowest of the low" power usage. At midday on 5 January 2005 a three minutes silence in remembrance of the Boxing Day Tsunami resulted in a 1300 MW temporary drop in consumption followed by a sudden 1400 MW rise; the 6 September 1997 funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales caused a 1000 MW drop. Similar, though smaller, switch-offs occur annually at 11 am on Remembrance Day.

These switch-offs occur during the day time, so they are small

Blood Assurance is a non-profit organization designed to provide blood to surrounding hospitals of the Chattanooga, North Georgia, Southwest Virginia, North Carolina areas. Their headquarters is on East 4th Street in Chattanooga. Blood Assurance was founded in 1972 by the Chattanooga–Hamilton County Medical Society, Chattanooga Area Hospital Council, Chattanooga Jaycees. Blood Assurance is a member of the American Association of Blood Banks, America's Blood Banks, Blood Centers of America, the Tennessee Association of Blood Banks, the Tennessee Hospital Association, the Chattanooga Area Hospital Council, the Tennessee Department of Health, the Georgia Department of Community Health; the organization is licensed by the Alabama State Board of Health, the Georgia Department of Human Resources, the Tennessee Department of Public Health and the U. S. Food and Drug Administration; as of May 2014, there are 13 bloodmobiles. Cartersville, Georgia Dalton, Georgia Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia Rome, Georgia Chattanooga, Tennessee Cleveland, Tennessee Cookeville, Tennessee Hixson, Tennessee Johnson City, Tennessee Tullahoma, Tennessee Abingdon, Virginia Bristol, Virginia The following facilities are listed as being serviced by Blood Assurance.

Cherokee Medical Center, Centre DeKalb Regional Medical Center, Fort Payne Highlands Medical Center, Scottsboro Erlanger Western Carolina Hospital, Murphy Johnston Memorial Hospital, Abingdon Twin County Regional Hospital, Galax Russell County Medical Center, Lebanon Smyth County Community Hospital, Marion Official website