The smoke coming from this smoke stack is due to burning of coal or wood to produce heat. Heat is produced in this way by breaking and making chemical bonds. The energy in chemical bonds is potential energy. When it is released, it must be absorbed by the environment in some form. One way for the environment to absorb the energy is for other energy consuming reactions to occur. But in this case the energy is trapped and no heat is produced. There must be another way to release the energy that results in heat. What is it?