Recent Examples on the Web Methane emissions come largely from leaky fossil fuel infrastructure as well as livestock. First Known Use of fossil fuel , in the meaning defined above. Learn More About fossil fuel. Time Traveler for fossil fuel The first known use of fossil fuel was in See more words from the same year.
Style: MLA. English Language Learners Definition of fossil fuel. Kids Definition of fossil fuel. More from Merriam-Webster on fossil fuel Britannica. Get Word of the Day daily email! Test Your Vocabulary. Test your visual vocabulary with our question challenge! Cleaner technologies such as renewable energy coupled with energy storage and improved energy efficiency can support a more sustainable energy system with zero carbon emissions.
Read more: Climate Change Renewable Energy. Oil constitutes about one-third of U. Once extracted, crude oil is processed in refineries to create fuel oil, gasoline, liquefied petroleum gas, and non-fuel products such as pesticides, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, and plastics.
The transportation sector accounts for most oil consumption. Globally , million barrels of oil per day were produced and consumed in The United States leads the world in both oil production and consumption, producing about Graph by Emma Johnson. Oil is also a major source of greenhouse gas emissions: in , oil combustion was responsible for 45 percent of U. Extracting and transporting oil poses major environmental and safety risks.
Pipelines, offshore drilling wells, and related infrastructure often leak, polluting oceans, wetlands, freshwater sources, and other ecosystems and threatening human health. Thousands of oil spills occur each year in the United States, and although many are small, they can still harm animals and humans. Major oil spills, such as the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, which released three million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, impact ecosystems for decades. Despite a drop in oil production and consumption in because of the COVID pandemic, both are expected to return to levels within the next few years.
The future of oil through remains uncertain as economies move away from fossil fuels and towards sustainable renewable energy. Coal is primarily used to generate electricity and, in , supplied 19 percent of U. Coal's share has been steadily decreasing as the costs of natural gas and renewable energy have dropped, making coal less competitive. As coal usage has dropped in the United States, so have carbon dioxide emissions from coal—by 50 percent from to Coal production in the United States has been dropping since and is expected to continue to decline in the future.
In large power stations they are burned in the presence of oxygen. As the fuel burns the heat energy is used to heat water, as it is heated it produces steam which in turn rises and drives a turbine. The energy conversion goes from chemical energy stored in the fuels, to heat energy as it burns which is converted to kinetic energy as it drives large turbines and finally this is converted to electrical energy. The problem with burning fossil fuels is their effect on the environment.
As mentioned fossil fuels are Hydrocarbons. When hydrocarbons are burned in the presence of oxygen they release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is a Greenhouse Gas and is a leading cause of Global Warming. Fossil fuels are also used in the petrochemicals industry, here the fossil fuels are used to make plastics, paints and even medication.
Ireland has a history of coal mining in areas of Leinster including Kilkenny, Carlow and Laois. The Arigna coal mine in Co. Roscommon opened in the late 18th century and ran up as far as the 's.
Today Ireland imports most of its coal from areas such as Poland. The use of coal for production of electricity is decreasing as shale gas becomes more available. Natural gas is widely used in Ireland with supplies coming from both Irish sources and imports. There are a number of gas fields in operation off the coast of Ireland including Kinsale Head, Ballycotton and the Seven Heads fields all located off the coast of County Cork. In recent years a new gas field located at Corrib off the west coast has been exploited.
Oil is one of the world's most valuable commodities. In Ireland oil is no longer used for the production of electricity but is heavily relied on for transport and home heating. Ireland has no domestic oil production and depends entirely on imports.
In Ireland Peat has two main uses, generating electricity and home heating. Ireland has many raised bogs across the midlands. To prevent the destruction of Ireland's peatlands and their ecosystems many raised bogs and blanket bogs have been given legal protection and restrictions to peat harvesting have been put in place. First the energy source must be found, geologists are constantly studying areas and their rocks to determine if deposits or wells are likely to occur.
Once a source is located it then needs to be removed from the Earth. Extraction processes can vary from mining for coal, mechanical harvesting of peat and drilling for oil and gas. Processing can take the form of crushing, grinding and milling. Coal is broken into smaller usable lumps for use in domestic settings and peat is often milled and compressed into briquettes for use in the home.
The oil that is pumped from the earth is extracted in the form of crude oil. This oil must be sent to a refinery where the different mixtures of fuels are separated by a processes called fractional distillation. The oil is separated into its different components such as petrol, diesel, kerosene, and residue. These components can be processed further to make plastics.
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