Fossil Fuels

J2a Tina

What are fossil fuels?

• Fossil fuels are natural substances made deep within the Earth from the remains of ancient plants or animals.

• Over time, heat and pressure turned decomposing remains into fuels, which releases energy when burned.

The three main fossil fuels

• Coal

• Oil

• Natural gas

What about it?• To get the coal out of the ground it has to be

mined. • Coal was the first and may be the last of fossil

fuels. It is estimated that coal may last another 200 years!

• One of its main uses is to make roughly 40 per cent of the electricity.

• Coal produces more carbon dioxide therefore, more green house gases and pollution) than any other fossil fuel.

What about it? Oil can be anywhere from a few meters to

several kilometers under ground, Almost everything we use depends on oil or oil products.

Oil is the most popular fossil fuel, providing about 40 per cent of world energy. But at the rate we are using oil there will be very little or none left by the late 2100’s.

• Heat and pressure changed the plankton into natural gas.

• Natural gas is a mix of four gases together. It is mostly made up of

- methane (CH4), 甲烷 - but there also is ethane (C2H6 ) 乙烷 - propane (C3H8), 丙烷 - butane (C4H10). 丁烷

What about it?• Natural gas is mainly used for –• heating homes and other buildings• heating water • cooking.• Right now, natural gas provides about 23 per ce

nt of the world energy. It has become more popular since natural gas is more efficient for making electricity because it burns hotter than coal or oil when it is burned.

• The type of fossil fuel created depends on the kind of plants or animals and the amount of heat and pressure.

In fact,fossil fuels supply about 90 per

cent of the world energy.

Problems• Humans are using fossil fuels 100,000

times faster than they are being made.

• fossil fuels are non-renewable resources—they won’t last forever.

• When we burn fossil fuels we release greenhouse gases and create pollution too.

• Many scientists believe that the extra greenhouse gases from human activities are causing one of the biggest environmental issues in the world today –

climate change

We should start using reusable energy!

Question one:

Coal was the first and may be the last of fossil fuels.

How many years can it last?

A) 100 B)200 C)300 D) 400

Question two:What is removed from natural gas when it is cleaned?A) ethane B) propane C) butane D) all

Question three:

How can we save energy?