fossil fuel

Examples of fossil fuel in the following topics:

• Environmental Problems Associated with Fossil Fuel Use

  • One of the major environmental problems associated with fossil fuel use is global warming.
  • One of the biggest environmental problems associated with fossil fuel use is global warming, which is the rise in the average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans since the late 19th century.
  • This warning of the climate system is unequivocal, and scientists are now more than 90% certain that it is primarily caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases produced by human activities such as deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels.

• Present Sources of Energy

  • Present sources of energy include fossil fuels, various types of renewable energy, and nuclear power.
  • The estimates for remaining non-renewable worldwide energy resources vary; the remaining fossil fuels total an estimated 0.4 YJ (1 YJ = yottajoule, or 1024 J) and the the energy available from nuclear fuels such as uranium exceeds 2.5 YJ.
  • As of 2010, use of fossil fuels as an energy source comprised over 80% of total energy consumed.
  • The growth of oil as the largest fossil fuel was further enabled by steadily dropping prices from 1920 until 1973.
  • Fossil fuels remain our primary source of energy.

• Energy Consumption

  • Consumption of fossil fuel resources has led to global warming and climate change.
  • If we reach (or have already reached) a maximum rate of petroleum extraction, then fossil fuels will no longer be a viable source of energy.
  • The majority of greenhouse gas emissions are due to burning fossil fuels, while some is due to deforestation.
  • It was estimated in the study that these external downstream fossil fuel costs amount up to 1%-2% of the EU's entire gross domestic product (GDP); this was before the external cost of global warming from these sources was even included.
  • Wind turbines provide a green source of alternative energy, as opposed to the burning of fossil fuels which contributes to climate change.

• New Sources of Energy

  • There are many concerns about the environmental and political impact of continued dependence on nonrenewable, foreign-produced fossil fuels.
  • Environmental and political stability in the U.S. has been threatened in recent years by a continued dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels, particularly those from outside sources.
  • However, the widespread use of alternative fuel requires more than just scientific research.
  • Ethanol fuels burn more cleanly than traditional fuels; however, there is some concern that the production of large amounts of corn exclusively for biofuels could be detrimental to farm lands.
  • For example, during the Oil Embargo of the 1970s, U.S. politicians began to discuss alternatives to fossil fuels.

• The Carbon Cycle

  • Since the 1800s (the beginning of the Industrial Revolution), the number of countries using massive amounts of fossil fuels increased, which raised the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
  • Carbon is stored for long periods in what are known as carbon reservoirs, which include the atmosphere, bodies of liquid water (mostly oceans), ocean sediment, soil, land sediments (including fossil fuels), and the earth's interior.
  • Deeper underground, on land and at sea, are fossil fuels: the anaerobically-decomposed remains of plants that take millions of years to form.
  • Fossil fuels are considered a non-renewable resource because their use far exceeds their rate of formation.
  • Although much of the debate about the future effects of increasing atmospheric carbon on climate change focuses on fossils fuels, scientists take natural processes, such as volcanoes and respiration, into account as they model and predict the future impact of this increase.

• Industrialization and the Environment

  • During the Industrial Revolution, environmental pollution increased with the use of new sources of fuel, the development of large factories, and the rise of unsanitary urban centers.
  • Fossil fuels powered the Industrial Revolution.
  • A harder and high-quality form of coal, anthracite soon became the primary source of fuel in the United States for domestic and industrial use.
  • It fueled factory furnaces, steam-powered boats, and machinery.
  • The consumption of immense quantities of coal and other fossil fuels eventually gave rise to unprecedented air pollution.

• Indicating Who Cares

  • Fossil fuels have a profound effect on all of these activities.
  • The effect of fossil fuels on the environment is well documented, ranging from acid rain to climate change.
  • Your introduction could mention the cost of energy, problems with importing oil from other countries or the environmental impact of fossil fuels.

• The Hydrogen Economy

  • The hydrogen economy refers to using hydrogen as the next important source of fuel.
  • The feasibility of a hydrogen economy depends on issues including the use of fossil fuel, the generation of sustainable energy, and energy sourcing.
  • Other ways of producing hydrogen from fossil fuels include partial oxidation and plasma reforming.
  • The main source of hydrogen is fossil fuel reforming, but this method ultimately leads to higher emissions of carbon dioxide than using the fossil fuel in an internal combustion engine.
  • The hydrogen economy could possibly revolutionize the current energy infrastructure by transferring fuel demands from fossil fuels onto hydrogen.

• Gaps in the Fossil Record

  • Because not all animals have bodies which fossilize easily, the fossil record is considered incomplete.
  • Each fossil discovery represents a snapshot of the process of evolution.
  • Because of the specialized and rare conditions required for a biological structure to fossilize, many important species or groups may never leave fossils at all.
  • The fossil record is very uneven and is mostly comprised of fossils of organisms with hard body parts, leaving most groups of soft-bodied organisms with little to no fossil record.
  • Some scientists have suggested that the geochemistry of the time period caused bad conditions for fossil formation, so few organisms were fossilized.

• The Fossil Record as Evidence for Evolution

  • Fossils range in age from 10,000 to 3.48 billion years old.
  • These types of fossils are called trace fossils, or ichnofossils, as opposed to body fossils.
  • The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous (fossil-containing) rock formations and sedimentary layers (strata) is known as the fossil record.
  • Fossils provide solid evidence that organisms from the past are not the same as those found today; fossils show a progression of evolution.
  • Footprints are examples of trace fossils, which contribute to the fossil record.