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A fossil fuel[a] is a carbon compound - or hydrocarbon -containing material such as coal, oil, and natural gas, [2] formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants and planktons), a process that occurs within geological formations. Reservoirs of such compound mixtures can be extracted and burned ...
Oil field in California, 1938. The modern history of petroleum began in the nineteenth century with the refining of paraffin from crude oil. The Scottish chemist James Young in 1847 noticed a natural petroleum seepage in the Riddings colliery at Alfreton, Derbyshire from which he distilled a light thin oil suitable for use as lamp oil, at the same time obtaining a thicker oil suitable for ...
The abiogenic petroleum origin hypothesis proposes that most of earth's petroleum and natural gas deposits were formed inorganically, commonly known as abiotic oil. [1] Scientific evidence overwhelmingly supports a biogenic origin for most of the world's petroleum deposits. [2][3] Mainstream theories about the formation of hydrocarbons on earth ...
Age of Oil. Continental Oil Co., C.A.T.C., Gulf of Mexico, 1955. The Age of Oil, [1] also known as the Oil Age, [2][3] the Petroleum Age, [4][5] or the Oil Boom, refers to the era in human history characterised by an increased use of petroleum in products and as fuel. Though unrefined petroleum has been used for various purposes since ancient ...
Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. [ 1 ] Coal is a type of fossil fuel, formed when dead plant matter decays into peat which is converted into coal by the heat and pressure of deep burial over millions of years. [ 2 ]
The history of the scientific discovery of climate change began in the early 19th century when ice ages and other natural changes in paleoclimate were first suspected and the natural greenhouse effect was first identified. In the late 19th century, scientists first argued that human emissions of greenhouse gases could change Earth's energy ...
Commonly, the term fossil fuel also includes hydrocarbon-containing natural resources that are not derived entirely from biological sources, such as tar sands. These latter sources are properly known as mineral fuels. Fossil fuels contain high percentages of carbon and include coal, petroleum, and natural gas. [12]
Natural gas (also called fossil gas, methane gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane (95%) [ 1 ] in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Traces of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide, and helium are also usually present. [ 2 ]