Fossil Fuels Essay examples -- Energy, Environmental Essays, Natural R

Fossil Fuels Energy, whether it was sunlight or mania from a wood fire, has always been important to society. However, with the onset of the industrial variation over 200 years ago, wood alone could no durable support the increasing brawn demand. The world quickly turned to blacken to satisfy its faculty needs, and it has been reliant on fogey fuels ever since. in spite of the inroads renewable and nuclear energies have made in recent decades, the massive majority of energy use of goods and servicesd by society still comes from the tierce main fossil fuels petroleum, natural gas, and coal. As a result, it is important to hunch over how these fuels were formed, the rates at which they are produced and consumed, and how much is economically recoverable for prospective use. The formation of petroleum and natural gas began hundreds of millions of years ago as energy from the sun in the form of light radiated toward the earth. Algae that were in the ocean during this time use d the suns radiant energy to produce energy of their own through the process of photosynthesis. Plankton, being uneffective to produce energy on its own, consumed algae to obtain energy. When the algae and plankton died, they cut out to the ocean floor and accumulated in the spetroleum. As accumulation continued, force per unit area and temperature were increased on the underlying layers of organic mud. When the pressure became great enough, the mud lithified into organic-rich shale that is referred to as the source rock. If this source rock is exposed to temperatures between 80C and 160C, the organic matter forms into oil. Natural gas pass on form if the source rock is exposed to temperatures between 80C and 225C(Marshak 431-2). The gas window overlaps the oil window, which means the formation of oil and ... ... which is having a tremendous impact on the environment. By burning these fossil fuels, the US releases five billion metric tons of CO2 into the standard atmosphere e ach year(Ristinsen 333). This number leave alone increase in the coming years, which will signifi usher outtly affect the global climate of the future. Despite the limited tot of petroleum and natural gas, the addition of shale oil and tar sands to our energy reserves will increase the longevity of fossil fuel use in society. Alternative sources of energy must become more wide used, or else the earth will become uninhabitable due to the cause of global warming sooner than the fossil fuel reserves can be depleted. Works CitedMarshak, Stephen. Earth Portrait of a Planet. W.W. Norton & Company spic-and-span York, 2001.Ristinen, Robert A Jack J. Kraushaar. Energy and the Environment. John Wiley & Sons New York, 1999.