INTRODUCTION:
Fossil fuels are energy reserves that are present deep inside the earth surface. It is the non-renewable source of energy. These fossil fuels are formed millions of years ago due to anaerobic decomposition and sedimentation of organic matters. Some of the examples of fossil fuels are coal, crude oil, petroleum, natural gas and their derivatives.
Meaning
Fossil fuels are remains of plants and animals, formed millions of years ago. Fossil fuels are used to produce electricity and fuels for automobiles. They are the cheapest mode of energy.
Facts about fossil fuels:
The formation and development process, fossils require millions of years.
Saudi Arabia is the biggest crude oil producer in the world. As per the report of 2008, they produced about 10.8 million tons of crude oil every day.
Fossil fuels includes coal, natural gas a and crude oil.
Statistically, fossil fuel provides about 85% of our energy demand.
Crude oils are found from underground reserves called as reservoirs.
By-products of crude oil are gasoline, which also uses entirely.
Natural gas is a form of methane. It forms during the process of decomposition of dead plants and animals and gets trapped there.
Fracking is the most efficient method to extract deposits of natural gas and oils.
Fossil fuels can be processed to generate electricity and supply power to vehicles.
The core step in generating electricity from fossil fuels is that it should be burned. Otherwise, it cannot produce heat.
Pipelines are used to transport natural gas to houses.
Fossil fuels are a pervasive source of energy today because it requires very less technology to extract energy.
About 18 million barrels are used daily in America.
To produce 1 liter of gas, about 26 tons of raw petroleum is required.
To power, a bulb throughout the year about 800 pound of coal needs to be burned.
The burning of fossil fuels releases poisonous toxic chemicals in the air. These poisonous chemicals ate harmful to human health and cause air pollution.
The quality of coal depends on the amount of carbon inside it. The best quality coal is Anthracite. It consists of about 95 % carbon.
Consumption of fossil fuels causes serious environmental problems like acid rain, air pollution, soil pollution, global warming, melting of glaciers, etc.
As fossil fuels are made up of hydrocarbons, we only need to burn them to generate energy.
Natural gas releases less quantity of carbon dioxide as compared to forms of fossil fuels.
Natural gas is a colorless and tasteless gas. So, to detect its leakages, an artificial odor like mercaptan is added to it.
Drilling for oils and natural gas in sea and oceans causes disturbances to marine life.
Human-made disaster oil spills cause the large level of exploitation of marine vegetation and marine life.
The energy stored in fossils is energy from the sun. Plants use solar power for photosynthesis. These energy gets trapped in the plant while decaying and hence forms an excellent source of energy after millions of years.
About 21. 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide is produced every year due to combustion of fossil fuels.