The term relates to the amount of energy contained in food or fuel. The amount of heat that can be generated by the complete combustion of a unit weight of fuel is known as its calorific value.
The calorific value of a fuel indicates the amount of heat that is available from a fuel. The greater the calorific value of fuel is, the larger is its ability to produce heat.
In case of solid and liquid fuels, the calorific value is expressed in terms of cal/gm or kcal/kg.
In case of gaseous fuels, the calorific value is generally stated in cal/liter or kcal/liter.
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