The origin of fossil fuels

What are fossil fuels?

Fossil fuels were formed by a natural process of decomposing plants and organisms over the course of millions of years, some even before the age of the Triassic period. As the dying organisms sank to the bottom of swamps and oceans, they were covered by sand, clay and other minerals, which then turned into carbon rich deposits. Different fossil fuels formed depending on the combination of organic matter, temperature, time and pressure conditions while decomposing. 

These non-renewable resources have a high energy density and are very highly sought after, they can come in abundance or at a scarce amount depending on the geographic situation, which largely affects cost. 

80% of the world’s energy is provided by fossil fuels, when these are burned it releases carbon dioxide and other gases, trapping heat into the Earth’s atmosphere, causing issues not only for our health but also our environment. This makes them the biggest contributors to global warming and climate change. 

Types of fossil fuels

There are several main groups of fossil fuels, 3 of the major ones are coal, oil and natural gases.

Coal is the only fossil fuel in solid formation, it is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock with a high amount of carbon, the remaining elements are, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, and sulfur.  The distributions of those five elements vary depending on each piece of coal. 

There are 4 categories, anthracite, bituminous, sub-bituminous, and lignite. All varieties of coal have different amounts of carbon. Anthracite being the highest grade containing more than 92%, which generates the most amount of energy, although it accounts for less than 1% of mining in the U.S. Whereas  Bituminous coal contains 45%–86% carbon. but is the most abundant ranked and accounts for approximately 47% of total U.S. coal production. 

Coal today is used for everything from producing steel and cement to lighting up our homes and businesses. It is the largest production of energy sourcing 40% of the world’s electricity. The burning of coal is responsible for 46% of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide and accounts for 72% of total greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector, making it the biggest contributor to anthropogenic climate change.

Crude oil is a naturally occurring, unrefined petroleum liquid product composed of hydrocarbon deposits and other organic materials. Crude oil is typically obtained through drilling on land or at sea. It is then refined to produce usable products such as gasoline, diesel, and various other forms of petrochemicals and then sold to customers.

Most economists agree that this is the primary source of energy production, making it the most important commodity in the world. Using petroleum liquid accounts for nearly half of the carbon emissions in the U.S. and about a third worldwide. The top oil-producing countries are the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Russia, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the world’s supply. 

Natural gas is cleaner than coal and oil in terms of emissions, but nonetheless accounts for a fifth of the world’s total energy. In its natural state the gas is colourless and odourless. The hydrocarbon gas mixture consists of primarily methane, but commonly includes amounts of other higher alkanes, and sometimes a small percentage of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide, or helium. When burned it produces mostly carbon dioxide, water vapour and small amounts of nitrogen oxides.

In the United States and a few other countries, natural gas is produced from shale and other types of sedimentary rock formations by forcing water, chemicals, and sand down a well under high pressure. It is transported on specially designed ships as liquefied natural gas,  then cooled to -260° Fahrenheit, the temperature at which natural gas becomes a liquid. The volume of the liquid is 600 times smaller than the gaseous form.

The industrial sector makes use of natural gas liquids as a fuel for processing heat and raw materials to produce chemicals, fertilizers, and hydrogen. It is an accessible and abundant domestic resource, and the world’s most extensive and reliable delivery infrastructure have created a fundamental shift in the natural gas marketplace, providing an opportunity to satisfy significant new demand at affordable prices well into the future.

Conclusion

Coal was the first and only fossil source until the 1860s, when crude oil consumption began. Natural gas production erupted two decades later, in the 1880-90s. The 20th century saw a large diversification of fossil energy consumption, with coal declining from 96 percent of total production in 1900 to more than 30 percent in 2020.

Understanding the impact on our planet is critical for evaluating the true cost of fossil fuels and for informing our choices around the future of energy production. Unlike wind and solar, fossil fuels are not renewable and the vast reserves that still exist may one day be exhausted. A more pressing concern is the environmental damage caused by the extraction and burning of fossil fuels. In a 2018 report, UN climate experts warned that the world faces potentially catastrophic warming if emissions from fossil fuel use can’t be drastically reduced.

Check out how to reduce our carbon footprint and make the change that is crucial for a greener future.