Global Warming Today - Fossil Fuels

Fossil fuels are coal, natural gas and oil these are non renewable sources of energy meaning they will run out one day, they are formed from plants and animals that were alive over 300 million years ago they are found in deposits beneath the earth. Fossil fuels are burnt to release energy that is stored within them, fossil fuels make up 85% of the total energy consumption.

The plants and animals died millions of years ago, many of them were ocean dwellers. When they die they drop to the bottom of the ocean and are compressed and exposed to great volumes of heat over millions of years which causes the material to break down to a simpler form of hydrocarbons.

All of these fossil fuels are made of hydrocarbons, hydrogen and carbon, the energy stored within them is what is really important, the energy is stored in atomic bonds and to make use of this energy they are burnt. Combustion is the breaking down of the atomic bonds to release energy, fractional distillation is the main technique utilised to separate hydrocarbons and release energy.

Coal power plants account for 60% of our national energy, and 52% world wide, we burn approximately 1.9 billion tonnes of coal a year for electricity. Burning fossil fuels creates very hazardous by-products, these particles are tiny and can enter the bloodstream or the lungs causing serious illness, asthma and other long term lung problem’s, it is estimates that between 2000 – 2020 8 million deaths can be caused from this unless there are changes. To date the USA produces the most amount of oil, 171 billion barrels followed by the former Soviet Union with 125 billion barrels, then Saudi Arabia with 74 billion.

The country with the most oil reserves is Saudi Arabia with 84GB, followed by the former Soviet Union with 84GB, more than half the remaining oil reserves in the world today are to be found in the Middle East. With 439 out of the 8090 GB of reserves left in the world today. The amounts of oil left to be discovered are lively to be found within the next 10 – 20 years and the country with the most oil to be discovered is the former Soviet Union followed by Iraq and Iran. Oil is a non renewable fossil fuel and will one day run out time scales have varied but are overall from 17 – 70 years depending on the rate of consumption per year.

Natural gas accounts for 24% of the energy production in the USA, while coal and oil production has continued to increase. It is estimated that natural gas will run out in around 50 years, however 97% of fossil fuel reserves are coal and 20% of the coal supply of the world is located in the USA. Over 90% of greenhouse gases come from the combustion of fossil fuels in the USA. Fossil fuel combustion also creates acid rain which damage environmental and man made landscapes. They also contain radioactive materials, which are released into the atmosphere during combustion.

There are environmental regulations that try to limit the amounts of emissions that get pumped into the atmosphere these include economic incentives and voluntary programmes. Fossil fuels will not last forever and cause global warming other renewable fuels are require and sooner rather than later, and unless the main contributors/users of fossil fuels act we may not be able to undo the damage.