What does the sun have to do with fossil fuels?

Answer 1

fossil fuels are the remains of dead plant matter, mostly plankton. Those plants use the sun to preform photosynthis. So the sun in a way grew the materials that the oil and coal we use today are made up of.

Answer 2

In a way, fossil fuels are a solid form of the sun's energy. When you burn fossil fuels, you are releasing that stored energy.

For example, lets look at coal. Lets say a piece of coal was formed from a dead tree and a dead animal long ago. The animal got it's energy from eating another animal which got its energy from eating the plant. So it all comes down to where the plant get its energy.

Plants and trees are made of carbon. They get this carbon by taking in Carbon Dioxide and splitting the carbon from the oxygen. Storing the carbon in the form of wood or plant material, and releasing the oxygen into the air. How does the plant get the energy to split molecules like this? The sun! Photosynthesis utilizes the sun to create the plants which together with the animals feeding on them, form fossil fuels like coal.

The sun's energy is trapped inside fossil fuels as potential energy until it is released through burning or combustion.