Fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas, have been used for centuries and became the primary source of fuel during the 20th century. They are by-products of geological processes but come with a heavy environmental price and are running out. Fossil fuels are used in transportation, homes, factories and petrochemicals. They have contributed to human society but must be replaced by other sources of energy due to their damage to the environment and their limited supply.
Fossil fuels are high-energy substances that are extracted from the Earth. Some fossil fuels, such as coal, have been used for heating and fueling for hundreds and possibly thousands of years. Others, such as natural gas and oil, became popular after the Industrial Revolution and became the most important forms of fuel during the 20th century. Fossil fuel, used to run much of the world, comes with a heavy environmental price, compounded by the unnerving fact that the planet is running out of supplies.
Oil, coal and natural gas are by-products of geological processes deep inside the Earth. Coal is created in swamps, where plant sediments build up over long periods of time and slowly turn into peat and eventually charcoal. Oil and gas tend to form deep in the ocean, where the Earth cooks down deeply buried organic material over millions of years to form oil.
Fossil fuels used throughout history show an increasing trend in importance, strongly linked to human scientific understanding of energy and combustion power. Fossil fuels for powerful fires date back to ancient China, where there is evidence coppersmiths used charcoal in their forge fires. Petroleum may be the oldest of the fossil fuels used as a type of petrochemical; the ancient Egyptians used the oil for medical and possibly cosmetic treatments. Native Americans also had fossil fuels for sealing and sometimes even for medical purposes.
Until the late 19th century, whaling provided most of the oil used for lamps and lighting fixtures. With the devastation of the whale population, due to whaling, the price of whale oil has risen dramatically, leading many to look for alternative fuels for lamps. Oil, which is relatively cheap and seemed like an unlimited resource at the time, quickly became the primary fuel for lighting.
Fossil fuels used for energy date back to Chinese coppersmiths, and during the Industrial Revolution, smoggy, smog-filled skies were the result of coal-fired factories. However, it was only with the development of automobiles and aircraft that fossil fuels used for energy gained their true power over the world. Since the early 20th century, nearly all forms of transportation have been powered by natural gas.
Oil and natural gas fuel homes, factories and transportation, but they also find their way into the daily lives of almost everyone through petrochemicals. These refined components of the oil are used in thousands of household products, from plastic items to clothing, medicine and cosmetics. Any product that contains propylene, vinyl, ethanol, glycol, butadene, or ingredients ending in xylene is a petrochemical derived from fossil fuels.
The creation of the fossil fuels used today began over 300 million years ago, according to some experts. As science has discovered, the Earth is rapidly running out of fossil fuels; a prospect that could be devastating to all aspects of modern existence. Furthermore, fossil fuels cause serious damage to the environment and are the main culprits in the case of global warming caused by humans. Although they have powered the world almost exclusively for a century and have contributed to human society for a long time, it seems that one day fossil fuels will have to be replaced by other sources of energy.
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