Fossil FuelsBy Jessica Kushner

What are fossil fuels?

It is a type of fuel that comes from natural resources.

Types of Fossil Fuels Coal is a type of fossil fuel as well as natural

gases and oil.Coal: comes from a plant called a fern, or moss,

or trees near the shoreline.Oils: is also known as petroleum. Natural gases: it contains mostly methane.

How is coal formed?

It is formed when peat is changed chemically and physically.

Stages of Coal Formation

• There are four main phases that coal goes through before it is considered coal:

• peat• lignite • bitumen • athracite

Coal used a fossil fuel

Coal is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by underground

mining or open-pit mining (surface mining). It is a readily

combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock. It is

composed primarily of carbon along with assorted other elements, including sulfur.

Oil was formed from the remains of animals and plants (diatoms) that lived millions of years ago in a marine (water) environment

before the dinosaurs. Over millions of years, the remains of these animals and plants were covered by layers of sand and silt.

Heat and pressure from these layers helped the remains turn into what we today call crude oil. The word "petroleum" means

"rock oil" or "oil from the earth."

How is oil Formed?

How is oil used a fossil fuelOil is another fossil fuel. It was also formed more than 300 million years ago. Some scientists say that tiny diatoms are

the source of oil. Diatoms are sea creatures the size of a pin head. They do one thing just like plants; they can

convert sunlight directly into stored energy.

1- Diatoms die. They do one thing just - fall to sea floor-buried under

sediment and other rock.

2- The rock squeezed the diatoms and the energy in their bodies could not escape. The carbon eventually turned

into oil under great pressure and heat.

3- As the earth changed and moved and folded, pockets where oil and natural gas can be found were formed.

How is Natural Gas formed?Theory states natural gas is composed of the remnants of decayed plant and animal matter that has been subjected to immense pressure under the earth’s crust over millions of years. A further way in which natural gas can be produced is by microorganisms breaking down organic matter and producing methane. Natural gas is made up of a combination of gases, which consists largely of methane (CH4) with lesser amounts of ethane, propane and butane as well as nitrogen, carbon dioxide and traces of some other gases.

Natural Gas used as a Fossil FuelNatural gas is a fossil fuel

composed almost entirely of methane, but does contain

small amounts of other gases, including ethane, propane,

butane and pentane.

Natural gas is used residentially, commercially and industrially. Over half of the homes in the US use natural gas for home

heating. Natural gas is odorless and tasteless so natural gas

companies add a sulfur smell to it for safety.

What are refineries?Their importance to the production of fossil fuel

• Refineries are manufacturing/industrial plants in which unfinished substances are purified.

• The fossil fuel goes through their process and then it becomes a cleaner natural gas.

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

It was on March 24th 1989 when Exxon hit a reef causing oil to be spilled, approx 11 million gallons into the water. Crude oils still remain in Prince Alaska. This one spill in particular called for the most supplies and helpers in U.S history. It took years to clean. Used sprays to clean the fisheries and little things here and there to get the cleaning process going.

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill also called the BP oil spill is a massive ongoing oil spill stemming from a sea floor oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico which started on April 20, 2010. This caused a catastrophic

explosion on the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil drilling platform that was situated about 40 miles southeast of the Louisiana coast. Eleven

platform workers are missing and presumed dead; the explosion also injured 17 others.

The clean up efforts include:19,000 personnel deployed, 750 vessels on site, 1.7 million feet of boom deployed, 158,000 barrels of oil-mixed water recovered, 17 staging areas set up to protect shoreline and 15,600 claims filed, 2, 700 already paid.

Crews desperately trying to “cap” leak.

This major spill affects all aspects of the environment from sea life/wild life to the beautiful beaches up and down the coast. Fisherman and

other sea-related professions are devasted. Restaurants in those areas who rely on the daily “catches of the day” are hurting and tourism could

be affected if beaches are closed.