Opening Scientists say that the earth has existed for over 4.5 billion years (Sarfati, Jonathan). In fact, if we condensed the entire history of the earth into a 1 year period it would show that humans would only have existed in its final hour. Over these billions of years plant and animal remains have decayed from exposure to heat and pressure to form natural deposits of fossil fuels (Science Daily). There are 3 types of fossil fuels that we use today. Oil, coal, and natural gas make up the majority of our energy source. These resources have been developing in the earth’s crust for billions of years before humans came into existence. Without fossil fuels the world would not be where it is today. The purpose of this paper is to explain the fundamentals of each fossil fuel, the advantages and disadvantages of using fossil fuels as an energy source, and how they shape the world we live in today.
Non-Renewable Energy Fossil fuels are one of the hot topics of the modern world. Perhaps the biggest problem we face today is the shortage of fossil fuels, and the lack of new energy sources to replace them. Fossil fuels are considered non-renewable. Oil, coal, and natural gas have revolutionized the world we live in. These fossil fuels have ignited an economic and social boom that has never been seen before. It has allowed industrialization to grow the population exponentially. In 1875, just before the first industrial revolution, the world’s population was roughly 1.325 billion.
In this paper, we focus on using fossil fuels causing climate change. Fossil fuels are fuels formed natural resources such as coal, petroleum and natural gas, which are the most widely used fuel and industrial chemicals in the world. Since industrial revolution, fossil fuels bring a very great quantity convenience and technological products. So we can use cars, planes and all modern products. But fossil fuels cause climate change at the same time. Greenhouse gas, nitrous oxides and a great deal of harmful gas which are from fossil fuels are causing serious environmental problems. Therefore we need to be concerned about the problems caused by fossil fuels and the solutions.
It has come to conclusion that fossil fuels are organic materials that are buried in combustible geologic deposits of organic materials. These fossil fuels are formed from decayed organic materials, animals and rocks that have been converted to crude oil, coal, natural gas, or heavy oils by exposure to heat and pressure in the Earth's crust for a very long time. Changing the use of energy can cause effects such as; economic issues and environmental issues. Although, energy is in need of production, many
` The continuous use of fossil fuels is leading the Earth on a path to destruction. Generations of advancement and technological innovation being brought down to rubble. Natural disasters wreaking havoc on innocent people across the world. Temperatures soaring above 125℉ globally. These are the results of the excessive use of fossil fuels. A chief concern in the 21st century is global warming and climate change, and the continued use of fossil fuels for the technology and daily lives of humans is key to blame. Decades ago, these problems were much more daunting and seemingly unsolvable than they are today, with the use of alternative energy sources and new
Throughout the entire modern age, mankind has used fossil fuels to meet its energy requirements. Coal, oil and natural gas have lit homes and powered machinery for centuries, driving civilization forward. But as human
In order to comprehend why we need to shift to alternative energy sources, we must first review the history of fossil fuels and how it transitioned the world during an important era of history. Fossil fuels played an extremely significant role in the era of the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution began in the eighteenth century. Fossil fuels were the ultimate ideal source of energy during the Industrial Revolution. Coal was especially used the most during the revolution. It burned “cleaner” and hotter than what wood did. The Industrial Revolution without a doubt expanded the use of coal. During the revolution, coal was used for steamships and with the escalating business of transporting goods across the country, it played a major
The world right now is facing a major disaster if our habits don’t change. Fossil fuels dominate our energy demand and at our current rate this will remain true for quite some time. The World Energy outlook claims that by 2030 84% of our energy demands will be fulfilled by fossil fuels (Shafiee et al, 181). It is believed that we possess the reserves to meet our demands until 2030 (Shafiee et al, 181) but the cost will increase as time goes on. Fossil fuels are a non-renewable resource, meaning that once we run out of what’s currently available, we cannot replenish it. Our future energy needs are heavily dependent on a non-renewable and quickly depleting energy source.
Since the Industrial Revolution, humans have sought to generate power from a variety of energy sources. This remains true today, especially as some energy sources are being depleted. The current power needs are continuing to climb while the resources of the planet are steadily being depleted. Technology that operates on electricity, including everything from the typical refrigerator in the kitchen to street lights, is now a part of the lives of most people in industrialized nations, such as the United States. Much of that electricity is generated in power plants, which use large amounts of fossil fuels. The procedure that created fossil fuels is a natural process of the earth's systems. The remains of plants and animals that died millions of years ago were slowly buried under sediment from the
Fossils fuels have been the main source of energy since the beginning of this industrial advancement. Due to the anthropogenic emission of CO2,
While people have different beliefs pertaining to alternative energy, both forms of energy have been used throughout history. Fossil fuels are created from the remains of decayed animals and plants and then burned to make energy. Coal, oil, and natural gas are examples of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels grew in popularity during the Industrial Revolution when the first coal deposits were found (Mason). This discovery prompted a new age of energy and eventually led to the use of oil, another fossil fuel. Fossil fuels continued to grow and eventually became the world’s main energy source, but burning fossil fuels gives off carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that causes climate change. The climate change created by fossil fuels produced the controversy that surrounds this form of energy. Another popular energy source is alternative energy. Alternative energy is any form of energy besides fossil fuels, such as solar, wind, and nuclear power. Similar to fossil fuels, ideas of alternative energy began during the Industrial Revolution, however, these designs were not created until the 1950s (Mason). During the 1950s, the renewable forms of alternative energy were the most popular, due to the realization that fossil fuel sources would eventually be depleted. Today, research about alternative energy is still being done as this energy source is also controversial. Alternative energy is said to be less reliable and even more dangerous than fossil fuels. Although both alternative energy forms and fossil fuels are controversial, they remain relevant in today’s world because energy is necessary in people’s daily lives.
Coal and natural gas are the United States’ main fossil fuels used as energy sources. These fossil fuels both contain mixtures of hydrocarbons, which is a chemical compound of carbon and hydrogen (Olah, 2005). Currently, fossil fuels provide eighty-five percent of commercial energy, such as businesses, worldwide and this eighty-five percent does not even account for residential use. Imagine if the residential energy use was accounted for in that eighty-five percent (Davison, 2007). According to Goodell (2006), “Between 1950 and 2000, the world population increased by 140 percent and fossil fuel consumption increased by 400 percent. By 2030, the world’s demand for energy is expected to more than double,” with most of the electricity
In today’s society fossil fuels are the primary source of energy for most of the industrialized world. Utilizing fossil fuels has been very important to the industrialization development throughout the world. Industrialization in many parts of the world, energy has been needed at a much higher density then before and fossil fuels have fulfilled that need. Coal, gas, and oil are the three major sources of fossil fuels in the world. Despite other means of energy such as wind power, hydroelectric power etc., fossil fuels are still the main source of energy across the continent. Fossils fuels are critical to the function of society. “Fossil fuels (oil, coal, and natural gas) are the dominant source of energy today and will be for decades to come.” (Everett, B. October).
Fossil fuels are essential to life on earth as we know it today. Our world would certainly be much different if it weren’t for such seemingly simple things such as coal, oil, and natural gas. These basic elements of life on earth may not seem like a major concern to some people until we put into perspective how they have shaped our world today. Civilizations have been built, economies have risen and crumbled, and even wars have been fought over these precious fossil fuels. However, these fossil fuels serve us in ways we may never truly appreciate, as long as we use them as recklessly as we do now. The major entity about fossil fuels is concerning their longevity and permanence in our world, and we all know, they will be around forever.
The most of global energy production produces from fossil fuel such as coal, oil and natural gas. The vast fossil fuels generate energy which use for many purposes for instant residential, transportation and industrial sectors. While the rate consumption of fossil fuel higher than their formation leads to oil price crisis. Another concern of fossil fuel combustion is the impact on the environment. Global warming is a significant problem which results in increasing concentrations of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. These problems drive researchers and societies to search alternative energy such as switching to renewable energy or carbon-free energy to replace fossil fuels. For example Nakata et al., (2011:465) show ‘low-carbon society’
Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons, primarily coal, fuel oil or natural gas created from the decade of dead plants and animals. Fossil fuels are formed through the natural process. So they are considered as un-renewable resources because the formation of fossil fuels may take millions of years and the feasible reserves are being run-down much faster than new ones are being made. The use of fossil fuel was started in the industrial revolution with the invention of the steam engine. All fired power stations like nuclear, coal, gas and oil are still working on the same principle of the steam engine. Still, fossil fuels are controlling to change the structure of our global economy. After the invention of the steam engine by James Watt (1769) brought widely increased the energy efficiency. After this invention, the use of fossil fuels is increased rapidly. This helps to give a
The world currently functions through the use of fossil fuels. However, fossil fuels possess two significant disadvantages. Fossil fuels harm the global environment because they enhance the greenhouse effect by releasing carbon dioxide, and they release other harmful