Fossel Fuel
Renewable Energy
Promise of a Better Future
Professor Brabson
SCI 110
Lanette Campos
October 28, 2012
Energy plays a central role in modern world and it would not be wrong to say that it drives our lives. Now, it can be easily noticed that due to industrial development, the demand for energy is increasing at an alarming rate and because of this increased requirement, the key sources of energy means; fossil fuels are being depleted in a rapid mode which reflects that we need to concentrate over alternative sources of energy that could also prove to be eco-friendly. But, before discussing that it should be better to have an idea about the current scenario and where we are standing today in context of availability of energy resources.
At present, approximately 80 percent of the energy used by us is supplied via fossil fuels which are called non-renewable energy sources because; their rate of formation is significantly slower than their rate of consumption. It might be understood via taking the example of manufacturing procedure of various fossil fuels.
How Fossil fuels are produced:
The three most frequent fossil fuels represent the three states of matter as; Coal is solid, Crude oil is liquid and Natural gas is gas. These might be refined further for the production of their byproducts for instance; tar, petrol, butane, and methanol etc. Their manufacturing process can be understood as follows:
Crude Oil
Because of its versatility as well as ease of extraction and transportation, oil could be termed as; number one fossil fuel. It is a combustible thick, black liquid hydrocarbon which is formed within the earth crust because of millions of years of decomposition (under high pressures and temperatures) of plant and animal matter (Cleveland, 1992).
Coal
Coal can be defined as; the most abundant as well as cheapest available fossil fuel of planet Earth and it is formed via ferns, plants and swamp remains that died and initiated to decay at the bottom
Promise of a Better Future
Professor Brabson
SCI 110
Lanette Campos
October 28, 2012
Energy plays a central role in modern world and it would not be wrong to say that it drives our lives. Now, it can be easily noticed that due to industrial development, the demand for energy is increasing at an alarming rate and because of this increased requirement, the key sources of energy means; fossil fuels are being depleted in a rapid mode which reflects that we need to concentrate over alternative sources of energy that could also prove to be eco-friendly. But, before discussing that it should be better to have an idea about the current scenario and where we are standing today in context of availability of energy resources.
At present, approximately 80 percent of the energy used by us is supplied via fossil fuels which are called non-renewable energy sources because; their rate of formation is significantly slower than their rate of consumption. It might be understood via taking the example of manufacturing procedure of various fossil fuels.
How Fossil fuels are produced:
The three most frequent fossil fuels represent the three states of matter as; Coal is solid, Crude oil is liquid and Natural gas is gas. These might be refined further for the production of their byproducts for instance; tar, petrol, butane, and methanol etc. Their manufacturing process can be understood as follows:
Crude Oil
Because of its versatility as well as ease of extraction and transportation, oil could be termed as; number one fossil fuel. It is a combustible thick, black liquid hydrocarbon which is formed within the earth crust because of millions of years of decomposition (under high pressures and temperatures) of plant and animal matter (Cleveland, 1992).
Coal
Coal can be defined as; the most abundant as well as cheapest available fossil fuel of planet Earth and it is formed via ferns, plants and swamp remains that died and initiated to decay at the bottom
References: Berndes G. (2002). Bioenergy and water—the implications of large-scale bioenergy production for water use and supply. Global Environmental Change. 12, 253–271. Cleveland CJ. (1992). Energy surplus and energy quality in the extraction of fossil fuels in the US. Ecological Economics. 6,139–162. Mulder K, Hagens N. (2008). Energy return on investment—towards a consistent framework. AMBIO. 37(2), 74–79. Odum HT. (1973). Energy, ecology, and economics. AMBIO. 2, 220–227. Webber M, King C. (2008). The water intensity of the plugged-in automotive economy. Environmental Science & Technology. 42(12), 4305–4311.