Why is fossil fuel bad

In this case, very quickly means maybe in our life span. According to Woldometers , we will run out of oil in 47 years, natural gas in 52 years, and coal in years. In the long term, if we want to use energy sources that will never run out, there are better alternatives than fossil fuels.

Fossil fuels contribute to greenhouse gases, which is one of their major disadvantages. The most harmful for the environment is coal because it has many more harmful combustion products than other fossil fuels. In contrast, natural gas is the most environmentally friendly fossil fuel simply because it burns much cleaner. It means that if we burn natural gas under perfect combustion circumstances, there will be minimal to no harmful compounds.

But the bottom line is that fossil fuels are probably the main contributors to global warming, which is a major fossil fuel disadvantage because it is one of the biggest threats to humanity. That is why we do not hear good things about fossil fuels. It is important to note that fossil fuels are not the most dangerous energy sources.

If we compare them to nuclear energy, we can easily see that nuclear power is much more dangerous. But, in case of irresponsible use, they may cause an accident. For example, natural gas is a really flammable energy source, which is both an advantage and a disadvantage.

Because of its inflammability, natural gas is the most commonly used energy source in the EU. But on the other hand, it is a combustible material which can explode. This is the biggest disadvantage of natural gas. But oil is not safer either. In , an ultra-deepwater drilling rig called Deepwater Horizon exploded, causing the largest marine oil spill in history.

It shows that they can be dangerous not only to human life but to nature as well. But then why do we use them? The critics of fossil fuels are much louder than the supporters. So, what are the advantages of fossil fuels?

Please click here to see any active alerts. Airborne nitrogen pollution affects not only the quality of the air we breathe, but also the land and the water. Nitrogen is the most abundant element in the air and is essential to plant and animal life.

Sources of nitrogen from human activities, such as electric power generation, industry, transportation and agriculture, can upset the natural balance of nitrogen in the environment. When fossil fuels are burned, they release nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere, which contribute to the formation of smog and acid rain.

The most common nitrogen-related compounds emitted into the air by human activities are collectively referred to as nitrogen oxides. Oil also allowed greater speed at sea and could be moved to boilers by pipe instead of manpower, both clear advantages. Natural gas, a fossil fuel that occurs in gaseous form, can be found in underground deposits on its own, but is often present underground with oil. Gas produced with oil was often wasted in the early days of the oil industry, and an old industry saying was that looking for oil and finding gas instead was a quick way to get fired.

In more recent times, natural gas has become valued for its clean, even combustion and its usefulness as a feedstock for industrial processes. A final key development in world energy use was the emergence of electricity in the 20th century. Electricity is not an energy source like coal or oil, but a method for delivering and using energy. Electricity is very efficient, flexible, clean, and quiet at the point of use.

Over the 20th century, the energy system transformed from one in which fossil energy was used directly into one in which an important portion of fossil fuels are used to generate electricity. The proportion used in electricity generation varies by fuel.

In sum, the story of energy transitions through history has not just been about moving away from current solar flows and toward fossil fuels. It has also been a constant move toward fuels that are more energy-dense and convenient to use than the fuels they replaced.

Greater energy density means that a smaller weight or volume of fuel is needed to do the job. Liquid fuels made from oil combine energy density with the ability to flow or be moved by pumps, an advantage that opened up new technologies, especially in transportation.

And electricity is a very flexible way of consuming energy, useful for many applications. Before we could make efficient use of solar flows, this seemed like a great idea. However, the advantages of fossil fuels come with a devastating downside.

We now understand that the release of carbon dioxide CO 2 from burning fossil fuels is warming our planet faster than anything we have seen in the geological record. One of the greatest challenges facing humanity today is slowing this warming before it changes our world beyond recognition. Now that there are almost eight billion of us, we clearly see the impact of rising CO 2 concentrations.

Going back to the old days of relying mostly on biomass for our energy needs is clearly not a solution. Nonetheless, we need to find a way to get back to reliance on real-time solar flows and perhaps nuclear energy to meet our needs. There are so many more of us now, interacting via a vastly larger and more integrated global economy, and using much more energy. But we also have technologies today that are much more efficient than photosynthesis at transforming solar flows to useful energy.

The earth gets plenty of energy from the sun for all of us, even for our modern energy-intensive lives. The amount of solar energy that reaches habitable land is more than 1, times the amount of fossil fuel energy extracted globally per year.

The problem is that this energy is diffuse. The sun that warms your face is definitely providing energy, but you need to concentrate that energy to heat your home or move a vehicle. This is where modern technology comes in. Wind turbines and solar photovoltaic PV cells convert solar energy flows into electricity, in a process much more efficient than burning biomass, the pre-industrial way of capturing solar energy.

Costs for wind and solar PV have been dropping rapidly and they are now mainstream, cost-effective technologies. Combining new renewables with these existing sources represents an opportunity to decarbonize — or eliminate CO 2 emissions from — the electricity sector.

However, unlike fossil fuels, wind and solar can only generate electricity when the wind is blowing or the sun is shining. This is an engineering challenge, since the power grid operates in real time: Power is generated and consumed simultaneously, with generation varying to keep the system in balance. Engineering challenges beget engineering solutions, and a number of solutions can help. Power storage technologies can save excess electricity to be used later.

Hydroelectric dams can serve this function now, and declining costs will make batteries more economic for power storage on the grid. Storage solutions work well over a timeframe of hours — storing solar power to use in the evening, for example. But longer-term storage poses a greater challenge. Perhaps excess electricity can be used to create hydrogen or other fuels that can be stored and used at a later time.

Finally, fossil fuel generation often fills in the gaps in renewable generation today, especially natural gas generation, which can be efficiently ramped up and down to meet demand. Transforming solar energy flow into electricity is a clear place to start in creating a decarbonized energy system. A simple formula is to decarbonize the electricity sector and electrify all the energy uses we can. Many important processes can be electrified — especially stationary uses, like in buildings and many industrial processes.

To deal with climate change, this formula is the low-hanging fruit. The two parts of this formula must proceed together. A shiny new electric vehicle in the driveway signals your concern about the environment to your neighbors, but achieving its full potential benefit also requires a greener power system. Achieving the full potential benefit of electric vehicles would require a grid that supplies all renewable or zero-carbon power, something that no area in the United States consistently achieves today.

Certain qualities of fossil fuels are difficult to replicate, such as their energy density and their ability to provide very high heat.

To decarbonize processes that rely on these qualities, you need low-carbon fuels that mimic the qualities of fossil fuels. The energy density of fossil fuels is particularly important in the transportation sector. A vehicle needs to carry its fuel around as it travels, so the weight and volume of that fuel are key.

Electric vehicles are a much-touted solution for replacing oil, but they are not perfect for all uses. Pound for pound, gasoline or diesel fuel contain about 40 times as much energy as a state-of-the-art battery. On the other hand, electric motors are much more efficient than internal combustion engines and electric vehicles are simpler mechanically, with many fewer moving parts. Industrial processes that need very high heat — such as the production of steel, cement, and glass — pose another challenge.

These very high temperatures are hard to achieve without burning a fuel and are thus difficult to power with electricity. For these processes, the world needs zero-carbon fuels that mimic the properties of fossil fuels — energy-dense fuels that can be burned.

A number of options exist, but they each have pros and cons and generally need more work to be commercially and environmentally viable. Biofuels are a possibility, since the carbon released when the biofuel is burned is the same carbon taken up as the plant grew. However, the processing required to turn plants into usable fuels consumes energy, and this results in CO 2 emissions, meaning that biofuels are not zero-carbon unless the entire process runs on renewable or zero-carbon energy.

Biofuels also compete for arable land with food production and conservation uses, such as for recreation or fish and wildlife, which gets more challenging as biofuel production increases. Fuels made from crop waste or municipal waste can be better, in terms of land use and carbon emissions, but supply of these wastes is limited and the technology needs improvement to be cost-effective.

Another pathway is to convert renewable electricity into a combustible fuel. Hydrogen can be produced by using renewable electricity to split water atoms into their hydrogen and oxygen components. The hydrogen could then be burned as a zero-carbon fuel, similar to the way natural gas is used today.