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What is fossil fuels?

What are fossil fuels?

  • I have my chemistry exam tomorrow morning and I've been revising and there's a lot on 'fossil fuels' I don't get exactly what it is??? what do they do? what do ...show more

  • Answer:

    Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons, primarily coal, fuel oil or natural gas, formed from the remains of dead plants and animals. In common dialogue, the term fossil fuel also includes hydrocarbon-containing natural resources that are not derived from animal or plant sources. These are sometimes known instead as mineral fuels. The utilization of fossil fuels has enabled large-scale industrial development and largely supplanted water-driven mills, as well as the combustion of wood or peat for heat. Fossil fuel is a general term for buried combustible geologic deposits of organic materials, formed from decayed plants and animals that have been converted to crude oil, coal, natural gas, or heavy oils by exposure to heat and pressure in the earth's crust over hundreds of millions of years. The burning of fossil fuels by humans is the largest source of emissions of carbon dioxide, which is one of the greenhouse gases that allows radiative forcing and contributes to global warming. A small portion of hydrocarbon-based fuels are biofuels derived from atmospheric carbon dioxide, and thus do not increase the net amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

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A is correct. More specifically... What they do is burn. What they consist of is carbon compounds, ancient plant matter (sometimes referred to as ancient "sunlight"). Are they "good for the environment"? This is more complicated. In some respects, yes the presence of fossil fuels is good for the environment as far humans are concerned. If fossil fuels did not exist on earth, there would be a whole lot more CO2 in earth's atmosphere, so much that earth's climate would be very very different and might not even be suitable for humans to live. On the other hand, the burning of fossil fuels is bad for the environment (as far as humans are concerned). When we burn fossil fuels, we are releasing all the stored carbon in the form of CO2. If you do any research on Global Climate Change and the influence of human activity on climate change, you will find lots and lots and lots of data including direct measurements of CO2 content increasing in the atmosphere over the past couple hundred thousand years with a TREMENDOUS increase that began when humans starting burning fossil fuel in industrial quantities (the last few hundred years). Of course, if you don't care about human society as it exists today, then, CO2 is no problem. Life on planet earth has done just fine in times of much higher global temperatures and much lower global temperatures, much higher CO2 levels and much lower CO2 levels. Evolution has allowed life to adapt to almost all the different environmental conditions that exist on earth.

Gary H

Here is a simple definition : FOSSIL FUELS ARE THE REMAINS OF DEAD PLANTS AND ANIMALS...EXAMPLE- COAL,NATURAL GAS, PETROLEUM, ETC.... This is 100% correct and acceptable definition.... BEST OF LUCK FOR YOUR EXAM....

Xeneth

Oil, coal, peat, and natural gas = methane = CH4 are the principle fossil fuels. After that definitions get fuzzy. Those 4 can be manufactured from biomass. Nature takes millions of years to make them from biomass. Generally they are bad for the environment, but costly remedies are possible, but not very practical.

Ray;mond

Fuels created as a result of fossilization of long dead plants and animals. This term generally refers to oil, coal and gas

A

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