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Fossil Fuels Part 1

Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons such as coal, oil, and natural gas that are formed from the remains of dead plants and animals exposed to heat and pressure over hundreds of millions of years. They have enabled large-scale industrial development and replaced water-driven mills and wood/peat combustion. However, burning fossil fuels is the largest source of human-caused carbon dioxide emissions, contributing to global warming.

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67 views

Fossil Fuels Part 1

Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons such as coal, oil, and natural gas that are formed from the remains of dead plants and animals exposed to heat and pressure over hundreds of millions of years. They have enabled large-scale industrial development and replaced water-driven mills and wood/peat combustion. However, burning fossil fuels is the largest source of human-caused carbon dioxide emissions, contributing to global warming.

Uploaded by

beayao
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Fossil fuel is a general term for buried combustible geologic deposits of organic

materials, formed from decayed plants and animals that have been converted to
crude oil, coal, natural gas, or heavy oils by exposure to heat and pressure in the
earth's crust over hundreds of millions of years.
Fossil fuel
Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons, primarily coal, fuel oil or natural gas, formed from
the remains of dead plants and animals.
In common dialogue, the term fossil fuel also includes hydrocarbon-containing
natural resources that are not derived from animal or plant sources.
These are sometimes known instead as mineral fuels.
The utilization of fossil fuels has enabled large-scale industrial development and
largely supplanted water-driven mills, as well as the combustion of wood or peat
for heat.
Fossil fuel is a general term for buried combustible geologic deposits of organic
materials, formed from decayed plants and animals that have been converted to
crude oil, coal, natural gas, or heavy oils by exposure to heat and pressure in the
earth's crust over hundreds of millions of years.
The burning of fossil fuels by humans is the largest source of emissions of carbon
dioxide, which is one of the greenhouse gases that allows radiative forcing and
contributes to global warming.
A small portion of hydrocarbon-based fuels are biofuels derived from atmospheric
carbon dioxide, and thus do not increase the net amount of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere.
Note: The above text is excerpted from the Wikipedia article "Fossil fuel", which
has been released under theGNU Free Documentation License.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/fossil_fuel.htm
Where Fossil Fuels Come From
There are three major forms of fossil fuels: coal, oil and natural gas. All three were
formed many hundreds of millions of years ago before the time of the dinosaurs
hence the name fossil fuels. The age they were formed is called the Carboniferous
Period. It was part of the Paleozoic Era. "Carboniferous" gets its name from
carbon, the basic element in coal and other fossil fuels.
The Carboniferous Period occurred from about
360 to 286 million years ago. At the time, the
land was covered with swamps filled with huge
trees, ferns and other large leafy plants, similar to
the picture above. The water and seas were filled
with algae the green stuff that forms on a
stagnant pool of water. Algae is actually millions
of very small plants.
Some deposits of coal can be found during the time of the dinosaurs. For example,
thin carbon layers can be found during the late Cretaceous Period (65 million years
ago) the time of Tyrannosaurus Rex. But the main deposits of fossil fuels are
from the Carboniferous Period. For more about the various geologic eras, go
to www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/help/timeform.html

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