10 things to know about energy production with fossil fuels
1. Fossil fuels are products of partially or completely decomposed plants and
animals
 Occurs as crude oil, coal, natural has, and heavy oils
2. Because fossil fuels take so long to form, they are considered a nonrenewable resource
3. Fossil fuels supply most of the energy sold in the market place as commercial
energy
 76% of commercial energy used comes from fossil fuels
4. Coal came to use when forest which had been supplying firewood to power
the steam engine and other early machinery started depleting
 By 1900, coal provided 73% of the worlds energy
5. Today, in the fossil fuel era, 82% of our energy comes from fossil fuels
6. Crude oil and natural gases are often found together deep within the Earth’s
crust either on land or under sea floor
 They are extracted by wells drilled into the deposits
7. Cruse oil is used as: asphalt, grease and wax, naphtha, diesel oil, heating oil,
aviation fuel, gasoline, gases
8. Natural gas is used as: space and water heater, produce electricity
9. Coal: burned to produce electricity
10. Natural gas pollutes the least, oil pollutes moderately, and coal pollutes the
most
Multiple choice questions
1. Of the 3 fossil fuels, (crude oil, natural gas, and coal) which pollutes the most?
A. crude oil
B. natural gas
C. coal
D. crude oil and coal pollute equally
E. natural gas and crude oil pollute equally
F. natural gas and coal pollute equally
2. What is the name given to the era we are living in?
A. the pollution era
B. the oil abuser era
C. the non-renewable resource wasting era
D. the fossil fuel era
E. the crude oil era
3. In comparison to the world as a whole, how much more of a percentage of
nonrenewable resources does the United States use for energy?
A. 11%
B. 27%
C. 0.02%
D. 13%
FRQ
E. none of the above, the world uses more energy than the US
a. What are the harmful effects to the environment of using fossil fuels as a
main energy source?
b. We know that the US gets 93% of their energy from natural gas, coal, and oil,
but what are the other sources?
c. About 275 years ago, machines run by burning wood were being invented.
Once forests started becoming scarce in 1950, those machines switched to
being run by burning coal. Will the same thing happen with coal? Argue for or
against, discuss similarities and differences, and compare and contrast.