Energy and Fossil Fuels

Coal

*• Coal, which is used mainly to generate electricity, is obtained by mining. It is the world's most abundant fossil fuel, and its use goes back into ancient times.* • People in parts of China heated with coal for at least 2000 years. The ancient Roman invading armies used coal. Beginning in the 1300s, Native Americans (Hopi Nation in southwestern part of US) used coal to heat their homes, cook their food, and fire pottery. • North America and China are the main producers and users of coal. Coal provides one fourth of the world's energy. • Coal-fired steam engines helped drive the Industrial Revolution, powering factories, trains, and ships. Today, coal generates about half of the electricity used by Americans. • Compared to other fossil fuels, coal is more abundant and less expensive. It does not need much processing after it has been removed from the ground and it can be transported relatively easily in trucks and trains.

Supply & Demand

• The supply of fossil fuels is limited, but the demand of global consumption has risen steadily for years and continues to rise. • No one knows the exact amount of fossil fuels that are left or how long they will last. • The most accessible reserves of natural gas, oil, and coal have already been used up. • Remaining deposits of fossil fuels are often difficult and expensive to extract. • Some scientists and oil/industry experts calculate that we have already extracted nearly half of the world's oil reserves.

Natural Gas

• Natural gas yields a large amount of energy and is less polluting than other fossil fuels. Natural gas consists of the gas methane mixed in with small amounts of other gases. Its use is growing faster than that of most other fossil fuels today. • Natural gas is colorless and odorless. It is much less polluting than coal or oil, and emits less carbon dioxide. • Pockets of natural gas are often located above oil deposits, and some coal deposits may have them as well. • About half the homes in the United States are heated by natural gas, as are many businesses. Appliances such as water heaters, stoves, and clothes dryers may use natural gas to produce heat. It is also used to generate electricity and goes into products such as paints, plastics, dyes, and fertilizers.

Oil

• Oil, or petroleum, is a dark, liquid fossil fuel made up of mostly hydrocarbons. • The Middle East is especially rich in these deposits, but can be found in Russia, and North and South America. *• Petroleum is the source of the fuels used for most forms of transportation, such as cars, trucks, airplanes, and ships. Many people heat their homes with fuel oil.* • Because oil is a complex mix of hydrocarbons, it can be used to make many types of products. Petrochemicals are chemical compounds that are derived from oil and used to make products. Plastics are a byproduct of petroleum. • Oil deposits can be found deep underground within tiny pores of sandstone and limestone rocks. Scientists send sound waves into the earth to see how long it takes the waves to be reflected back. Once scientists find a possible location, oil companies drill deep holes to see if the rock contains oil. Once oil is removed from the ground, it's called crude oil. It contains byproducts so it must be refined, or separated, into different fuels and other substances.

Different Conditions determine Different Fuel Types

• The remains of organisms may be converted into crude oil, natural gas, or coal. • Various factors, such as temperature, amount of pressure, and the chemical composition of the starting material, determine which fossil fuels are produced. • Coal - forms from plant remains that are compressed under very high pressure • Oil - comes from remains of organisms such as microscopic animals and algae that lived in oceans and inland seas • Natural Gas - forms above oil and some coal deposits

What is Energy?

• Energy is the ability to do work or cause change. • Forms of energy include mechanical energy, electrical energy, thermal energy, electromagnetic energy, chemical energy, and nuclear energy. *• Two types of energy resources: renewable and nonrenewable energy.* • Human society uses renewable and nonrenewable energy resources in industry, transportation, commerce, and residences. • Sources of renewable energy are nearly always available somewhere on Earth's surface, or they are replaced in a relatively short time. Ex. sun, wind, water/wave, wood, and geothermal heat (heat that comes from deep within Earth) • Sources of nonrenewable energy cannot be replaced. Once these resources are used up, they are gone forever. Ex. include fossil fuels, like coal, oil, and natural gas, and nuclear energy.

Fossil Fuels

• Fossil fuels formed from the remains of organisms that lived millions of years ago. • Fossil fuels are composed mostly of hydrocarbons. Hydrocarbons are chemical compounds made mainly of hydrogen and carbon atoms. • Most organisms do not end up as part of a coal, gas, oil deposit after they die. Fossil fuels are produced only when the remains of living things are broken down in an environment that has little or no oxygen. Ex. bottoms of deep lakes, swamps, and shallow seas. • As dead organisms gradually accumulate at the bottom of these bodies of water, sediments may accumulate on top of the remains and exert pressure on them.