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300 Years of FOSSIL FUELS in 300 Seconds

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Fossil fuels release more than just carbon dioxide when burned. Coal-fired power plants singlehandedly generate 42 percent of dangerous mercury emissions in the United States, as well as two-thirds of U.S. sulfur dioxide emissions (which contribute to acid rain) and the vast majority of soot (particulate matter) in our air. Meanwhile, fossil fuel-powered cars, trucks, and boats are the main contributors to poisonous carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide, which produces smog (and respiratory illnesses) on hot days.

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When we burn oil, coal, and gas, we don’t just meet our energy needs—we drive the current global warming crisis as well. Fossil fuels produce large quantities of carbon dioxide when burned. Carbon emissions trap heat in the atmosphere and lead to climate change. In the United States, the burning of fossil fuels, particularly for the power and transportation sectors, accounts for about three-quarters of our carbon emissions.

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Fossil fuels release harmful air pollutants long before they’re burned. Indeed, some 12.6 million Americans are exposed daily to toxic air pollution from active oil and gas wells and from transport and processing facilities. These include benzene (linked to childhood leukemia and blood disorders) and formaldehyde (a cancer-causing chemical). A booming fracking industry will bring that pollution to more backyards, despite mounting evidence of the practice’s serious health impacts. Mining operations are no better, especially for the miners themselves, generating toxic airborne particulate matter. Strip mining—particularly in places such as Canada’s boreal forest—can release giant carbon stores held naturally in the wild.

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Coal, oil, and gas development pose myriad threats to our waterways and groundwater. Coal mining operations wash acid runoff into streams, rivers, and lakes and dump vast quantities of unwanted rock and soil into streams. Oil spills and leaks during extraction or transport can pollute drinking water sources and jeopardize entire freshwater or ocean ecosystems. Fracking and its toxic fluids have also been found to contaminate drinking water, a fact that the Environmental Protection Agency was slow to recognize.

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Unearthing, processing, and moving underground oil, gas, and coal deposits take an enormous toll on our landscapes and ecosystems. The fossil fuel industry leases vast stretches of land for infrastructures such as wells, pipelines, access roads, as well as facilities for processing, waste storage, and waste disposal.

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Today, oil, coal, and gas provide for about 80 percent of our energy needs.

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Synthetic mateials are more durable than most natural fibers and will readily pick-up different dyes.

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We use fuel, to propel vehicles, to heat buildings, and to produce electricity.

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petroleum is mostly used as a source of energy. It is used in three major ways:
- Transportation
- Electricity Generation
- Material Production.

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So, to reeplace oil we'll use renewable resources like wind, solar and hydro power. Cars might run on electricity, or even water. We might rely more heavily on public transportation, like trains and buses. It would be a new and different reality we'll have to adapt at.

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It is a fact that the world will run out of oil, and since it takes millions of years to make it, we can’t just create more.

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Oil has become the world's most important source of energy, it is used for products underpin modern society, mainly used energy, heat homes and provide fuel for vehicles and aeroplanes to carry goods and people all over the world.

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Different combinations of pressure, heat and the composition of organic material will transform hydrocarbons into oil.

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With even more heat, pressure, and time the kerogen transforms into hydrocarbons.

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Over millions of years, the remains were buried deeper and deeper under more sediment and organic materials. The enormous pressure, high temperatures, and lack of oxygen transformed the organic matter into a waxy substance called kerogen.

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Organisms absorbed energy from the sun and stored it as carbon molecules within their bodies. Once they died their remains sank to the bottom of the oceans or riverbeds and were buried in layers of sand, mud, and rock.

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oil is often interchangeably referred to as petroleum. This is because petroleum includes both the unrefined crude oil as well as refined petroleum products.

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oil comes from the remains of dead organisms, it is made up of a mixture of hydrocarbons, hydrogen and carbon atoms. It exists in liquid form in underground reservoirs in the tiny spaces within sedimentary rocks.

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This all results in the types of energy sources we have today like coal and oil.

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Then layers of sediments began to set in and the process repeats. As there were more layers being added throughout the years, they began to compress together.

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Geologists use sound waves to identify the shape of the rocks and from there, they can begin to search for oil using exploration drilling rigs.

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When the trees would die, and the river floods in, it made the trees submerge under the water and not rot (due to the anaerobic conditions).

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The gas is less dense than water, so begin to rise up through the porous (sponge-like) rock. It took millions of years for the natural gas to migrate only a few kilometres upwards.

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The areas in which fossil fuels were originally created were in swamp-like and forest environments.

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The high temperatures gradually break down the matter into chains of hydrocarbons, which form natural gas in the source rock.

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Fossil fuels are mainly made up of dead organisms, like plants and animals. The climate back then was a lot more humid and warm, making the plants grow much more.

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Over time, with extreme pressure and temperature 'cook' the organic matter and transform it into oil.

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The common microscopic organisms, such as plankton, fell to the bottom of the sea and were buried by layers of mud. Due to the lack of oxygen they did not decay completely and accumulated in a layer of mud that was rich with organic matter.

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Created from organisms that lived in the water. It can be found in sedimentary rocks.

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This is why its important to be more cautious with our carbon footprint.

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You can find fossil fuels in your car or a train, for example. All of these examples burn fossil fuels, however burning fossil fuels over the years has lead to major air pollution.

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The need for energy has become so popular over the years that we are starting to run out of it, very quickly.

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Finally the "Anthracite" is formed. This is a harder type of carbon that contains  much more carbon. When it burns it produce a lot of heat and also takes longer to form.

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With increasing temperature, pressure and time, "Subbituminous" carbon and "Bituminous" carbon are formed. These two types contain up to 86 percent of carbon that is burned in industrial boilers to transform it into a processed carbon that is used in the manufacture of steel.

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Secondly, the peat is compressed, heated and turns into "Lignite." The Lignite contains more coal than the peat but also contains a lot of unfamiliar woods.

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In first place, the "peat" is partially decomposed vegetation in which roots and branches can be observe.

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The vegetation that is unknown is buried under layers of sediment. This keeps matter in a state without oxygen and as time passes that temperature increases, forming coal.

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There are several key stages in the formation of coal

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There are several key stages in the formation of coal

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This is important because when sulfur is mixed with rainwater it becomes weak sulfuric acid, that is like acid rain.

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Other types of coal were formed from freshwater with very little of "Sulfur". That is why these areas release much less sulfur when burned.

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Today the coal of these areas  contain much more sulfur than in other areas.

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As the sea level changed, the sulfur began to form part of the "sedimentation".

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Coal was formed from dead remains of trees, ferns, and other plants that lived in the "Carboniferous" period, 300-400 years ago.

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In some areas, the coal was formed in swamps covered with water with a lot of "Sulfur".

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Fossil fuels are non-renewable and are the main category for sources of energy like coal, oil, and natural gas.

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Fossil fuels were formed a very long time ago, hundreds of millions of year ago to be more precise.