Definition of Fossil Fuels

There are three fossil fuels, coal, oil and natural gas; the same were formed millions of years ago from the organic remains left by dead plants and animals, that is, during the thousands and thousands of years of evolution of our planet earth, the aforementioned remains of living beings that inhabited it were deposited in seas, lakes and other waters and once there they were timely covered by layers of sediment, although it took millions of years for these remains to produce chemical decomposition reactions and give rise to the aforementioned coal, natural gas and Petroleum.

Fuels formed millions of years ago from organic remains of plants and animals that were deposited in waters

Fossil fuels are resources Non-renewable, a situation that implies that they cannot be replaced by biological processes and that then at some point will be exhausted and therefore it will be necessary for millions of years to happen again for them to return to Appear.

Power Generators

This type of fuel is very important at the request of the generation of EnergyAnd so it is that a good part of it comes from fossil fuels. Today, fossil fuel is used in the transportation, to produce electricity, for cooking, for heating rooms, among other alternatives.

Advantages and disadvantages

Among the advantages of this type of fuel we can highlight: easy to obtain, high availability, continuity, economic and among the disadvantages: its use causes gas emissions and therefore they are inconvenient when it comes to health of environment, depletion of reserves in the medium term.

Petroleum

In the case of Petroleum It is an oily liquid made up of carbon and hydrogen in different proportions. Typically, it is found at depths ranging between 500 and 4,000 meters. Since ancient times and until today, oil is a product widely used for different issues by the human being. For example, the Egyptians used it to preserve their mummies, the Romans for lighting and we, today, to produce liquefied gas, gasoline, lubricating oils and by-products such as paints, detergents, cosmetics and fertilizers, among others.

Coal

On your side, charcoal It is the result of the decomposition of accumulated vegetal matter and covered by water at the bottom of the waters; oxygen does not intervene in the process, but bacteria anaerobic. The quality and power of the charcoal will depend on the duration of the charring process as well as the burial conditions of the plant material. In the case of being the material buried under impermeable layers such as clays, the conditions will be preserved and the carbonification process will be much more complete.

Gas

And to natural gas, composed predominantly of methane (a chemical compound resulting from the union of hydrogen and carbon atoms) which found underground next to oil and it can be extracted from pipes and then its product will be stored in big tanks. Finally it is distributed to users through gas pipelines.

Discovery that powered the industry

The discovery of this type of fuel, and of course its use, that as soon as its benefits were discovered, spread incredibly, generated a resounding change and we could even qualify it as revolutionary in the matter of production technologies applied by the man.

The Industrial Revolution was a pivotal event in the history of industrial development and it is not at all strange that these fuels have began to be used around these times (18th century) and that its use has been increasing over time and until the day of the date.

Negative impact on the environment

Now, we cannot ignore or ignore when addressing this issue that, along with the phenomenal productive development that they produced and allowed, they have also left its passage negative consequences that we succinctly mentioned lines above, and that have to do with the negative impact on the environment that they themselves produce.

The combustion produced by these types of fuels naturally generates emissions of gases such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and many others. gases that added their quotas to generate the famous and negative greenhouse effect and other phenomena harmful to our habitat such as acid rain, contamination soil, air, and water, all of them with negative consequences for the health of our planet and the continuation of life.

But we must not only blame everything on the combustion that these produce as the main effect, but also the one that contributes at the time of contamination The environment is transportation, oil spills and the products that are generated from them, such is the case of hydrocarbons and other derivatives with high toxicity.

We must also add that the situation becomes much more serious and complex every day with the increase in population throughout the world as there is a greater demand for energy and the goods and services that consume it and This at the same time increases the emission of toxic gases that these fuels use to function.

The only way to counteract this negative scenario is for states to develop policies sustainable energy and industrial systems and that they get used to the implementation of other energies not conventional.

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