Hundreds of millions of years ago, even before the dinosaurs, there were huge plants and ferns that lived in swamp forests. When these plants and ferns died they decayed and formed layers at the bottom of the swamps. Water and soil built up on top of these layers and over thousands of years pressure and high temperatures would cause the decayed plants and ferns to undergo chemical and physical changes which pushed out the oxygen from the decaying layers.
As the plants and ferns continued to decay in the absence of oxygen they formed coal. Coal formation stage. Source: U. Energy Information Administration. The oil and gas we use today was formed by the decay of microscopic plants and animals that lived in the ocean millions of years ago. As these plants and animals died they fell to the bottom of the ocean and formed layer after layer of sediment covered by sand and mud. In some areas where there is little tidal movement such as lakes or seas the plants and animals begin to decay in the absence of oxygen.
As the layers build up the weight increases and the sediment is pushed further down, this increases both the temperature and pressure. With all of these factors combined the decayed plants and animals form oil and gas deposits. In some cases these deposits rise to the surface and seep out into soil and water. In other cases the oil and gas deposits are trapped under impermeable layers of rock and drilling is necessary.
Natural gas consists mainly of Methane CH 4 but can also contain other gases such as Butane and Propane. Oil and gas formation stages. Peat is a very young form of coal, if left for a long period of time peat will eventually form coal.
Peat was formed by the decay of plants and in some cases trees. These plants accumulated and decayed over hundreds of thousands of years in waterlogged areas. Peat formed in areas where there was poor drainage. When the last ice-age ended and ice melted it left behind glacial features such as eskers and moraines. These features are evident in the topography of Ireland, especially the midlands, and lead to poor drainage of the soil.
This poor drainage along with continual growth of vegetation, high levels of rainfall and a low levels of oxygen lead to the formation of peatlands.. Fossil fuels are burned to produce energy. In large power stations they are burned in the presence of oxygen.
As the fuel burns the heat energy is used to heat water, as it is heated it produces steam which in turn rises and drives a turbine. The energy conversion goes from chemical energy stored in the fuels, to heat energy as it burns which is converted to kinetic energy as it drives large turbines and finally this is converted to electrical energy. The problem with burning fossil fuels is their effect on the environment.
As mentioned fossil fuels are Hydrocarbons. When hydrocarbons are burned in the presence of oxygen they release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is a Greenhouse Gas and is a leading cause of Global Warming. The Energy Department works to ensure domestic and global oil supplies are environmentally sustainable and maintains emergency petroleum stockpiles.
Learn More. Carbon Storage Research. Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Shale Gas This webpage has been developed to answer the many questions that people have about shale gas and hydraulic fracturing or fracking. Enhanced Oil Recovery. National Labs. They are also trying to make coal burning and oil drilling cleaner. Researchers at Stanford University in California have been using greener technologies to figure out a way to burn fossil fuels while lessening their impact on the environment.
One solution is to use more natural gas, which emits 50 percent less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than coal does. The Stanford team is also trying to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it underground—a process called carbon capture and sequestration. Scientists at both Stanford and the University of Bath in the United Kingdom are trying something completely new by using carbon dioxide and sugar to make renewable plastic.
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