What Are Fossil Fuels

What Are Fossil Fuels

In today’s post, we will discuss what are fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are concentrated organic compounds found in the Earth’s crust. They are the world’s primary source of energy. Although these fuels occur naturally, they are non-renewable resources because they take millions of years to form and known viable reserves are rapidly depeleting.

We can categorize fossil fuels into coal, petroleum oil, and natural gas.

Coal

Coal is a combustible sedimentary rock and is a major source of energy. Coal is cheap and abundant, but it is the most nonrenewable fossil fuel as it releases a lot of pollutants when burned. Furthermore, Extracting coal often damages the environment.

Crude Oil

Crude oil or petroleum is a naturally occurring, unrefined petroleum product composed of hydrocarbon deposits and other organic materials. Crude oil, is harder to find and is typically relatively cleaner than coal. Also, unlike coal, it can be pumped through pipelines and easily refined into fuels like gasoline or kerosene.

Natural Gas

Natural gas is a fossil energy source that formed deep beneath the earth’s surface. Natural gas is also relatively inexpensive and less polluting than both coal or crude oil.

In conclusion, fossil fuels cannot provide all the required energy in future due to their exhaustibility. Their utilization also leads to a plethora of environmental problems. Therefore, it is vital to find a new inexhaustible and clean source of energy which could be easily stored and transported. Hydrogen produced by renewable energy sources has all the above mentioned advantages. You can read about the benefits of hydrogen here.