There are 3 major forms of fossil fuels Essay

Submitted By sonyab05
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Pages: 3

There are 3 major forms of fossil fuels: Coal, oil and natural gas. Coal is a hard, black colored rock-like substance. It is made up of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and varying amounts of Sulphur. There are three main types of coal – anthracite, bituminous and lignite. Oil and natural gas are found under ground between folds of rock and in areas of rock that are porous and contain the oils within the rock itself. To find oil and natural gas, companies drill through the earth to the deposits deep below the surface. The oil and natural gas are then pumped from below the ground by oil rigs. They then usually travel through pipelines or by ship. Natural gas is lighter than air and is made up of methane. Methane is made up of carbon and hydrogen. Natural gas has no smell and is unable to be seen. Natural gas is mixed with a chemical that causes it to smell like a rotten egg before it’s pumped through pipelines for easy detection of a leak. The advantages of fossil fuels is that they are capable of generating large amounts of electricity in a single location, and they are very cost effective. Some disadvantages of fossil fuels is that the amount of air pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels which causes carbon dioxide to be released causing a greenhouse effect which is a contribution to global warming. Fossil Fuels take millions of years to make, and they are not renewable. Once they are gone they are gone. We can save fossil fuels by conserving energy, and not wasting them.
Renewable energy is considered to be environmentally friendly and harness natural processes. These sources of energy provide an alternate ‘cleaner’ source of energy, alleviating pollution. These forms of power can be described as renewable since they are not depleting any resource to create the energy. Renewable resources come from sunlight, water, and wind.
Solar Power
Solar power is harnessing the suns energy to produce electricity. One of the fastest growing energy sources, new technologies are developing at a rapid pace. This power source is being used not only for businesses, but highly recommended for residential use as well.
Wind Power
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy by wind turbines into a useful form, such as electricity or mechanical energy. This power

Source is used to power isolated areas, but is also being utilized to power large appliances or entire houses depending on their size. Wind power is growing rapidly.