Finding more about fossil fuels on the Net

Finding more about fossil fuels on the Net

Ellen Whyte Columnist Malaysia ellenwhyte@lepak.com

Simple everyday things like boiling a kettle, drying your hair with a hairdryer, or heating and air-conditioning your home takes a lot of energy, much of which comes from the energy released by burning fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas.

This week we take a look at fossil fuels and their uses.

From wood to oil

Until recently, the most commonly used fuel was wood. Easy to gather and simple to use, wood was burnt in special stoves used for cooking, and in fireplaces for heating homes in colder climates. Coal was also commonly used. It was harder to gather than wood as it was often hidden deep in the ground. However, mining it was worth the effort as coal is a more efficient source of energy. A small coal fire lasts longer and burns hotter than a small wood fire.

In the late 1700s a series of complex machines that required lots of energy were invented. This industrial revolution changed the way resources were used. Steam trains and boats started off depending on coal burning machines to power them. Then engines that ran on various oil products were developed. Trains, boats and factories began to use power driven machines that could work faster and better than traditional craftsmen.

The Energy Planet site at http://library.thinkquest.org/C004471 explores energy sources used throughout the ages and describes how important tools such as fuel cells were developed.

How fossil fuels are created

We know that the earth is constantly changing. Although we don't live long enough to see so for ourselves, we know that continents, mountains, valleys, rivers, deserts, forests and other features appear and disappear. Coal, oil and natural gas are the result of such changes. They were created by the compression and heating of ancient forests. To put it a different way, oil and gas are the fossilized remains of ancient trees, plants and shrubs.

Although wood was popular, coal was the primary source of energy in the countries that were experiencing the industrial revolution in the 1800s. There are two types of coal.

The first and most often found is bituminous coal, a soft coal that burns well but that creates lots of ash, smoke and sulfur dioxide when it burns. Anthracite is a harder coal that burns more efficiently and creates fewer pollutants. However, anthracite coal is also much more rarely found than bituminous coal.

Today oil is a more popular energy source than coal. When crude oil is processed, or refined, the petroleum products created include kerosene, petrol, lubricating oils and diesel. In the middle of last century, when internal combustion engines became popular, petroleum became the most important fuel.

Another popular fuel today is natural gas, a product usually found very near oil fields. It is made up of methane (80 percent) as well as ethane, butane and propane. Piped from underground, natural gas is used in homes as part of the heating system or to power cookers. It is one of the cleanest fossil fuels.

A pretty page describing how fossil fuels were created and how they are extracted today is Energy Story at http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/story/chapter08.html.

The rest of the site explores how generators, turbines and power plants work, what alternative energies are available and other related matters. Click on the television icon in the menu to access the index.

For more information about the oil industry visit the International Petroleum Museum and Exposition http://www.rigmuseum.com and checkout the illustrated histories of the oil industry and an offshore drilling rig called Charlie. For local information check out Indonesia's Pertamina at http://www.pertamina.com that describes company products and current projects (Bahasa Indonesia only).

Environmental impact

Extracting and burning fossil fuels is not a very clean process. Mines that dig out the coal from the earth and pumps that suck up oil from underground reservoirs scar the land and water on the surface, often destroying existing ecosystems. See for yourself what impact these practices have by visiting Visible Earth at http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/Human_Dimensions/Environmental_Impacts.

As harvesting fossil fuel is so damaging some people believe we should stop further exploitation. Visit the Rainforest Action Network's Case Against New Fossil Fuel Exploration at http://www.ran.org/oilreport/africa.html to learn more of these arguments.

What next?

As it takes millions of years for plants to turn into fossil fuels, fossil fuels can be said to be a non-renewable resource from a human perspective. When we have used up the last of the fossil fuels to power our machines there will be no more. This is why scientists are experimenting with alternative fuels that can be manufactured easily and cheaply.

Information about these is available from the Energy Planet and Energy Story sites mentioned above. However, another interesting initiative worth exploring is biodiesel. To learn more visit Biodiesel Industries at http://www.pipeline.to/biodiesel.

For more information search for the terms: fossil fuels, alternative energy.