Fossil Fuels And Alternative Methods Of Generating Electricity

Fossil fuels are formed from plants and animals that lived hundreds of million of years ago died and were gradually buried by layers of rock.

Coal, crude oil, and natural gas are all considered fossil fuels because they were formed from the buried remains of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago.

Contradictory to what many people believe, fossil fuels are not dead dinosaur remains. “In fact, most of the fossil fuels we find today were formed millions of years before the first dinosaurs” (“Fossil Energy: How Fossil Fuels Were Formed,” n.d.). They were formed from prehistoric plants and animals that lived many millions of years ago and are considered non-renewable because they are not sustainable and cannot be easily replaced due to their formation taking billions of years. “When these ancient living things died, they decomposed and became buried under layers and layers of mud, rock, and sand. Eventually, hundreds and sometimes thousands of feet of earth covered them” (“Fossil Energy: How Fossil Fuels Were Formed,” n.d.). In some areas, these materials were covered by ancient seas before they dried up. “During the millions of years that passed, the dead plants and animals slowly decomposed into organic materials and formed fossil fuels. Different types of fossil fuels were formed depending on what combination of animal and plant debris was present, how long the material was buried, and what conditions of temperature and pressure existed when they were decomposing” (“Fossil Energy: How Fossil Fuels Were Formed,” n.d.). For example, oil and natural gas were created from plants and/or animals that lived in the water and were buried under bodies of water such as oceans, rivers, etc.

In today’s world humans are consuming massive amounts of fossil fuels. The top five oil consuming countries in the world are the usual suspects. These include the United States, China, Japan, India and Russia. Canada comes in at number 10 with a daily consumption of 2,287 thousand barrels per day. There are three major types of fossil fuels: coal, oil and natural gas. These resources were formed during the Carboniferous Period 360-286 million years ago. During this time earth was covered in swamps with large amounts of plants and waters filled with algae. When these plants and trees began to die they would form layers of peat. Hundreds and thousands of years would pass adding sand and other materials on top of the

The rock squeezed the diatoms and the energy in their bodies could not escape. The carbon eventually turned into oil under great pressure and heat. As the earth changed and moved and folded, pockets where oil and natural gas can be found were formed.

For coal to form it takes millions of years. Hundreds of millions of years ago, the coal energy came from giant plants that lived in the swamp forests. When the flora died, the remains formed layers. Water and dirt started to set

nitrogen. Known also as a fossil fuel, coal is made from a dead plant matter that converts into the

- For a long time, a layer of dead plants were at the bottom of swamps, which were enclosed by a level of dirt and water, trapping energy of the dead plants. Pressure and heat from the top layers helped the plant remains turn into what we know today as coal.

As known, fossil fuels are an organic material created from dead organisms and the remains of flora and fauna within the Earth’s crust. Coal was created from dead trees and other plant materials whereas crude oil and gas were created from dead marine organisms called plankton that were exposed to huge pressure and heat deep within the planet for over millions and millions of years. From about the year

Coal was formed during the Carboniferous Period, which was between 360- 290 million years ago. All of the coal originated from plant fossils. Around 400 million years ago plants once grew around fresh water swamps. As they eventually died, the plants fell and accumulate in the water. Many layers of sediments, mud and sand compressed the plants and allowed no oxygen, which results in no decomposition. Over time the layers get built up resulting in immense pressure and heat transforming each layer into different types of coal. For the substance to be considered coal it needed to contain less than 50% of ash- forming mineral matter. The four stages of coal are: Peat, Lignite (brown coal), Sub-bituminous coal, Bituminous coal and Anthracite.

- “Hooked on Fossil Fuels, Energy of the Future; Headline Issues" Plants and animals died, their organic matter formed huge deposits of Fossil Fuels deep on Earth's Crust. Not from dead Dinosaurs – Fossil Fuels formed even way back before they even existed. Coal was formed from the remains of swampy flooded vegetation. Over time, the increased pressure and heat convert the left peat into coal.

Fossil fuels were formed 300 millions of years ago before the time of dinosaurs (Energy Quest, 2012). Prehistoric plants and animals formed the fossil fuels millions of years ago (U.S. Department of Energy, 2013). There are three main fossil fuels that we use oil, coal, and natural gas (Energy Quest, 2012). Fossil fuels are non renewable because they take many millions of years to make (Energy Quest, 2012). Also, once the fossil fuels are made, they can never be made again. That is why many people try to save energy by conserving energy (Energy Quest).

Carbon gives coal most of its energy. Coal is made from peat, which is material that is formed from plants that have accumulated at the bottom of swampy areas. As peat is buried by sedimentary rock and sandstone, moisture is squeezed out of it, and as it heats up, coal is formed.

This paper will discuss the three main fossil fuels which are oil, coal, and natural gas. This research shows how the fossil fuels are formed, where they could be found, and explain how they were formed over millions of years. This paper will show the numerous advantages of fossil fuels compared to the disadvantages and how they are hurting the Earth. Fossils fuels are critical to the function of everyday life. The world would be a different if fossil fuels and their uses were not to of use.

Coal, oil, and gas were all formed from the remains of decayed and decomposing ancient animals and plants (Science Daily 2014). These fossil fuels we produced far before the dinosaurs ever roamed the earth, during the Carboniferous Period (Chapter 8 2012). This period of time, estimated around 360-286 million-years-ago, is believed to be when the earth was covered mostly in trees, plants, and swamps, and the bodies of water existing at the time were all filled with hundreds-of-millions of small plants called algae.