Coal, oil and natural gas.

Traditionally, a fossil fuel is any hydrocarbon that may be used as a source of energy. Coal, oil and natural gas are the three basic fossil fuels, formed 300 million years ago from organic plant and animal life subjected to great heat and pressure under the ground. They are classes as non-renewable sources of energy.

Note: the energy contained in a fossil fuel is the Sunlight energy that fell on the Earth in the past when the plant and animal life that comprises the fossil fuel was living.

Note: there have been hydrocarbons found in other places in the solar system (for instance Titan and Mars), and geologic sources of hydrocarbons are also possible, though the primary source on Earth is organic.

Longer answer

Fossil fuels are made primarily from anaerobic decomposition of plankton deposited in seas and oceans millions of years ago. There is some small component derived from plants and animals that were buried in prehistoric swamps and then put under high pressure for millions of years from the weight of the Earth's crust.

Over millions of years of time, heat and pressure turned the decomposing remains of the fossilized plants and animal into fuels, which release energy when burned. The fossil fuels include coal, petroleum, and natural gas which contain high percentages of carbon.

More information

Fossil fuels were formed from prehistoric plants and animals that lived millions of years ago. When these living things died, they decomposed and got buried under the layers of mud, rock and sand. Millions of years passed and the dead plants and animals slowly decomposed into organic material and fossil fuels.

The oil we use today comes from the decomposed remains of prehistoric plankton that fell to the seabed of ancient oceans and became entombed in the sediments forming there.

Coal is generally considered to be compressed plant matter from huge trees that became extinct many millions of years ago.

Fossil Fuels are hydrocarbons such as coal, oil and natural gas, sourced from the organic remains of prehistoric organisms. When these fuels are burnt, the energy released can be harnessed to produce electricity, power vehicles, heat homes, cook food and much more. They are also used in the production of important materials such as plastics.

Fossil fuels are called non-renewable resources because, once they have been used-up, it may take the Earth another 100 million years before anymore may be formed, if ever!

Summary:

Fossil fuels are formed by photosynthesis in anaerobic organisms and plants which used the Sun's energy to split carbon dioxide into carbon and oxygen. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years and sometimes exceeds 650 million years. Fossil fuels contain high percentages of carbon and include coal, petroleum, and natural gas. When the carbon in the fuel is burnt with oxygen from the atmosphere, the energy that was used in photosynthesis is released and carbon dioxide is re-formed.

• Burning fossil fuels creates pollution and pollution is bad for the environment.
• they produce harmful greenhouse gasses
• Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide emissions that add to the greenhouse effect. This is causing global warming and climate change.
• Fossil Fuels are fuels formed by natural resources. It harms the environment because every time we use it, carbon dioxide goes into the air.

A:

What is the environmental impact of the extraction, transport and use of fossil fuels?

The major fossil fuels we use are oil, natural gas and coal.

The oil spill now occurring in the Gulf of Mexico is an unintended consequence in the extraction of fossil fuels. Tanker accidents resulting in oil spillage are another way that fossil fuels impact our environment.

These impacts may harm the ecosystem, but the ecosystem may recover from spills. One of the largest oil spills occurred during the Kuwait war (see associated link), but the Persian sea (Arabian sea) has recovered.

The environmental impacts of burning fossil fuels has resulted in acid rain. The combustion process produces sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide, which combined with water vapor in clouds produces various acids.

The carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels is considered by many scientific organization to add to climate change or global warming. There is considerable information and technical reports available on the internet. The impacts of acid rain and global warming may be much more long lasting as they are difficult to reverse. A number of related links are included.

• Natural gas (largely methane) burns more cleanly than the other fossil fuels (45% less carbon dioxide emitted than coal and 30% less than oil)
• It is easily transported via pipelines and fairly easily using tankers (land and sea)
• It can be piped into homes to provide heating and cooking and to run a variety of appliances.
• Where homes are not piped, it can be supplied in small tanks.
• It can be used as a fuel for vehicles (cars, trucks and jet engines) where it is cleaner than gasoline or diesel.
• It is used to produce ammonia for fertilizers, and hydrogen, as well as in the production of some plastics and paints.
• It's relatively abundant, clean burning and seems easy to distribute.
• It's also lighter than air, so if there is a leak it will tend to dissipate, unlike propane, which is heavier than air and pools into explosive pockets.
• It can be used for heating, cooking, hot water, clothes dryer, backup generator power, and so forth.
• Some places will supply it to your house by way of underground pipes.
• Natural gas is more economical than electricity,
• it is faster when used in cooking and water heating and most gas appliances are cheaper than electrical ones.
• Gas appliances also do not create unhealthy electrical fields in your house.

• Even though it is cleaner than coal and oil, it still contributes a large amount of carbon dioxide to greenhouse gases.
• By itself natural gas is mostly methane, which is 21 times more dangerous for greenhouse warming than carbon dioxide so any leakage of the gas (from animals, landfills, melting tundra, etc) contributes strongly to greenhouse emissions.
• If your house is not properly insulated it can be very expensive.
• It can leak, potentially causing an explosion.

2. Natural gas is colorless, tasteless, AND IS ODORLESS IF IT IS NATURAL, requiring the addition of an odorant [one or more of several "Mercaptans"] to allow olfactory detection [smell] of leaks.

3. When gas from an underground leak travels great distances [underground], the odorant can be "scrubbed out" of the gas, thereby rendering it again ODORLESS, and therefore a severe explosion and fire hazard.

4. Being a fossil fuel, it is carbon based, and its byproducts of combustion include carbon compounds [such as carbon dioxide and/or monoxide] which contribute to the environmentally damaging "greenhouse effect."

One disadvantage is that burning it creates CO2 emissions (although not as much as oil or coal), and CO2 is a greenhouse gas. Natural gas itself is actually a very strong greenhouse gas also (much more than CO2 in fact). Another disadvantage is that it can leak and cause fires and/or explosions.

In some places, Natural Gas is considered a waste gas, and excess methane is just burnt in the atmosphere without using any of the energy it carries. For efficiency, we should be utilizing all of our fossil fuel hydrocarbons.

Some communities are now investing in recovering natural gas from garbage dumps and farming for energy production. There is more of this that we could be doing.

As far as fueling automobiles with either Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) or Liquid Natural Gas (LNG), the refueling process is slow (slower than using propane), and high pressures are required. And there are dangers of carrying around CNG or LNG tanks in vehicles.

There are several advantages to using compressed natural gas (CNG) to power vehicles. First, it is the cleanest burning fuel available. This reduces harmful emissions, which helps air quality. Secondly, there is an abundance of natural gas right below our feet. Increasing the production of natural gas would make the US less reliant on foreign sources for its energy, which would also help its national security. Third, as a result of the abundance of natural gas, it is much cheaper than diesel or gasoline. There are many areas throughout the US where natural gas is close to or less than $2 per gallon.
A: The gas orduces lots of energy and is easy to transport using pipelines.

D: It produces more pollution than oil and if it leaks natural gas can cause a big explosion and/or fire

Answer:

Advantages of natural gas:

- It is a very clean burning fuel

- There is an abundance of it throughout the world - the U.S. has the 6th largest reserve of natural gas in the world

- It is about half the price of gasoline

- It can be used in vehicles and is very efficient

- It is used to heat most homes

- It is easy to recover it from shale

Disadvantages of natural gas:

- There are only about 1,000 fueling stations across the U.S. open to the public

- There aren't very many cars that use it yet
One advantage of natural gas is its abundance in the U.S. Our country has the 6th largest natural gas reserve in the world. Natural gas also has the advantage of being the cleanest burning fuel available.
its renewable!!

it can help keep other gases from the destroying the atmosphere(good for the enviornment)

and it also made vampires decay in the caves back then so there arent any more alive...(or are there?)
Also natural gas is used for fuel... and other things that have to use power
Natural gas is a carbon fuel so burning it generates the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. However this produces less carbon dioxide than the same amount of energy from burning oil or coal, so natural gas is slightly cleaner than other fossil fuels.