Fossil fuels - 1A

• A fuel is a useful fuel that contains chemical energy.
• Chemical energy is readily released through combustion reactions (burning, exothermic) which produce heat energy.
• Fossil fuels are substances formed by chemical decomposition of organic matter over millions of years. They contain chemical energy that can be converted into useful electrical, heat and kinetic energy. They're the world's primary energy source.
• Organic matter consists of marine creatures, plants and animals.
• A non-renewable resource is something that cannot be replaced by natural processes at the same rate or faster than it is being consumed.
• Examples of non-renewable resource are coal, petroleum and coal seam gas as they're used up faster than the rate that they're being produced.
• Fossil fuels effect on the environment

  • extraction methods are harmful to the environment
  • sulfur emissions from the burning of coal and contaminated petrol contribute to the formation of acid rain.
  • fossil fuel fired electric power stations emit large amounts of carbon dioxide which accumulate in the atmosphere which cause an enhanced greenhouse effect.
  • Drilling, mining of fossil fuels disrupt the natural landscape and can disrupt the water table if spills occur.
• coal

  • used to produce electricity through combustion
  • steel can be produced from iron and coal
  • they're fuels for power stations
  • coal is formed from ancient plants, animals and microorganisms that were buried
  • coal is obtained from mining, removing underlying sediment.
  • unsaturated hydrocarbons
• crude oil

  Consist of saturated hydrocarbons. Used to make fuels, provide lubricants and they produce petrochemical products (plastics, rubber etc.)

  Found in underground reservoirs where ancient seas were located. They're obtained by oil drilling which is then refined (purified) by fractional distillation which seperates crude oil into a range of fractions with different boiling points.
• petrol


  Are unsaturated hydrocarbons they're used for transportation, generating electricity, producing materials, heating and lighting and lubricants

  They're obtained from oil drilling.
• Oil drilling begins by setting up an oil rig, where oil platforms drill long holes into earth to create an oil well to extract petroleum.
• natural gas


  Is a saturated hydrocarbon used for heating, electricity and fuel for vehicles. They are extracted from the ground by drilling a well which then undergoes the process of fracking which consists of creating fractures to the rock/coal to release the natural gas as natural gas is trapped between layers of rock.
• LPG


  Are a mixture of hydrocarbons, has both alkanes and alkenes. They're used for fuel for commercial vehicles and are a heat source for industrial processes. They're obtained by separating propane and butane from natural gas which is then liquefied under pressure to finally be fractionally distilled as LPG has a low boiling point.