Current Fuel Sources
The three main fossil fuels we rely on to meet the current energy requirements are: Oil, Natural Gas, and Coal.
Fossil fuels are hydrocarbon based natural resources that were formed over 300 hundred millions of years ago by the fossilization of prehistoric plants and animals. We have learned to harness the energy released from these fossil fuels during combustion in order to meet our energy needs. Fossil fuels are a common source of energy we use everyday. They are used to generate the electricity that runs our household appliances, fuel the motors of our cars, and heat our homes. Fossil fuels are currently essential to providing the energy needs of our everyday lives. This, however, is a subject of some concern.
Fossil fuels are depleting at an alarming rate. They are a nonrenewable resource and we are consuming vast quantities of them every day.
Varying estimates project a complete depletion of oil and natural gas within anywhere from 40-100 years.
Coal is the most abundant of the three and will last for about another 230 years. It is very likely that within our life times that one of these fossil fuels, if not more, will be completely consumed from the planet.
“Fossil fuels – coal, oil and natural gas -- currently provide more than 85% of all the energy consumed in the United States, nearly two-thirds of our electricity, and virtually all of our transportation fuels.
Moreover, it is likely that the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels to power an expanding economy will actually increase over at least the next two decades even with aggressive development and deployment of new renewable and nuclear technologies.”
-US Department of Energy
The Effects on Global Warming:
Disadvantages
The main drawback of fossil fuels is the vast quantities of pollution produced from burning them. Burning any fossil fuel produces carbon dioxide, which adds to the...