Energy Resources
Are natural resources that humans use to produce energy. The
energy resources on which humans depend on the most are fossil
fuels.
Fossil fuels are nonrenewable energy
resources that form in the Earths crust
over millions of years from the buried
remains of once living organisms. Energy
is released from fossil fuels when they
are burned
Liquid Fossil
Fuels:
Petroleum
Gaseous Fossil
Fuels: Natural
Gas
Solid Fossil
Fuels: Coal
Petroleum or crude oil, is an only mixture of flammable organic
compounds from which liquid fossil fuels and other products are
separated.
Petroleum is separated into several types of fossil fuels and
products in refiniries, among the types of fossil fuels separated
from petroleum are: gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, diesel fuel, and
fuel oil.
Fossil fuels refinery
Most natural gas is used for heating or
generating electricity. The stove that you
use at home may be powered by gas.
Methane is the main component of natural
gas. But other natural gas components such
as butane and propane can be separated
and used.
Coal is a solid fossil fuel formed underground from buried,
descomposed plant material. Coal, was once the leading source of
energy in the United States. People burned coal for heating and
transportation.
People began to use coal less because of the amount of air pollution
and because better energy resources were discovered. Now Coal is
used to produce electricity.
How do Fossil Fuels form?
Different types of fossil fuels form in different ways and
from different types of organisms.
Petroleum and natural gas form mainly from the remains
of microscopic sea life.
Their remains form sediment in the ocean floor, through
physical and chemical changes over millions of years, the
remains become petroleum and gas.
Permable rocks become reservoirs of
petroleum and natural gas, this is an
ongoing process.
Coal forms differently, it forms underground over millions of years ago
from decayed swamp plants. When swamp plants die, they sink to the
bottom, this begins the formation of coal.
Homework
Investigate and write in your notebook, the
advantages and disadvantages of the use of
fossil fuels, describe each one.