Fossil Fuels
What are fossil fuels?
Fossil fuels came from ancient plants and organisms about 360 to 286 million years ago in the Carboniferous period, even before the first dinosaurs came into being which was approximately 240 to 230 million years ago.
In the Carboniferous period, the Earth was covered with dense swampy forests and different types of animals. When those plants and animals died, they drowned to the bottom of the swamp. Over millions of years, the dead plants and animals decomposed under a layer of sand, clay, and other materials and minerals.
What are the different types of fossil fuels?
Different types of fossil fuels were formed depending on organic matter, time, temperature, and pressure.
The three primary kinds of fossil fuels are Oil, Coal, and natural gas.
Believe it or not, according to eesi.org, currently, fossil fuels power about 80% of the world’s energy!
How is Coal made?
How is Oil made?
How is Natural gas made?
What is Renewable energy?
Oil, Coal, and natural gas are all Non Renewable energy, meaning they can run out over time. On the other hand, renewable energies are energies that can be replenished over time. Some examples of renewable energies are:
- Solar energy,
- Wind energy,
- Hydropower energy,
- Biomass energy,
- Geothermal energy,
- Tidal energy
Solar energy
Wind energy
Wind power or wind energy describes the process by which the wind is used to turn an electric generator that converts the kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical power. But basically, wind power or wind energy is the use of wind turbines to generate electricity.
Hydropower energy
Biomass energy
Geothermal energy
Tidal energy
Tidal energy uses the rising and falling of the tides in the sea to create energy. Tides are caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces of the Sun and moon.
According to national geographic, there are three different ways to get tidal energy.
- Tidal streams,
- Tidal barrages, and
- Tidal lagoons.
For most tidal energy generators, turbines are placed in a fast-flowing body of water created by tides called tidal streams. The tides utilize the movement of water to rotate a turbine to generate electricity.
Why is it importent to increase the use of renewable energy?
Some of the many environmental benefits of using renewable energy are –
- Renewable energy generates energy that produces no direct greenhouse gas.
- Renewable energy can reduce some types of air pollution.
- Renewable energy is also a very reliable source of power because we will never run out of sunlight, wind, and ocean. Still, we are eventually going to run out of nonrenewable energy.