Chapter 5 Section 1  Fossil Fuels 

 

Things to know for the quiz

Energy Resources -

              Are natural resources that humans use to
              generate energy.

 

Fossil Fuels –

             Are nonrenewable energy resources that form from the remains of
             plants and animals that lived long, long ago

            

Types of fossil fuels:

             Liquids  (petroleum)

                 Gases   (natural gas)
                       Solids   (Coal)

 

 

 

Petroleum – Liquid fossil Fuel
             Crude oil, is an oily mixture of flammable organic
             compounds from which liquid fossil fuels and other
             products are separated.

                   Other products from petroleum

         gasoline                  jet fuel               kerosene

                       diesel fuel             fuel oil

 

Natural Gas – Gaseous fossil fuels
               Most natural gas is used for heating and
               generating electricity.

 

               Natural Gas can be separated into
 

Methane                    Butane                    Propane

 

Coal – Solid fossil fuel
                  is a solid fossil fuel formed underground from
                  buried, decomposed plant material.  Coal is the
                  only fossil fuel that is a rock

                               Coal is used for

                   heating             transportation

 

 

How do fossil fuels form?

All fossil fuels form from the buried remains of ancient organisms

Petroleum & Natural Gas                     Coal
forms from                                            forms from
remains of microscopic sea life            decayed swamp plants

 

Where Fossil Fuels are found

Many parts of the world

Some Fossil Fuels are found on land

Beneath the oceans in the Earth's crust

U.S. imports more than half of its petroleum used from the
Middle-East, South America, Africa, Canada, and Mexico

 

How Fossil Fuels are obtained

Drilling wells into rock that contains petroleum and natural gas.
Wells can be found on land and in the oceans

Coal is obtained by mining deep beneath Earth's surface or surface mining
Surface mining or (strip mining) removes the soil and surface rock to remove coal deposits

 

Problems with Fossil Fuels

In general fossil fuels affect wildlife, plants, buildings and statues

Coal-
         Removal of soil
        Wildlife habitats can be destroyed
        Underground water supplies can be polluted
        Collapse of underground mines endanger lives

Petroleum & Natural Gas-
         Producing, transporting, and using petroleum and natural gas can cause
         problems to the environment.
         Example: Burning petroleum causes smog