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ShareFossil fuels are hydrocarbons, primarily coal, fuel oil or natural gas, formed from the remains of dead plants and animals.
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In common dialogue, the term fossil fuel also includes hydrocarbon-containing natural resources that are not derived from animal or plant sources.
These are sometimes known instead as mineral fuels.
The utilization of fossil fuels has enabled large-scale industrial development and largely supplanted water-driven mills, as well as the combustion of wood or peat for heat.
Fossil fuel is a general term for buried combustible geologic deposits of organic materials, formed from decayed plants and animals that have been converted to crude oil, coal, natural gas, or heavy oils by exposure to heat and pressure in the earth's crust over hundreds of millions of years.
The burning of fossil fuels by humans is the largest source of emissions of carbon dioxide, which is one of the greenhouse gases that allows radiative forcing and contributes to global warming.
A small portion of hydrocarbon-based fuels are biofuels derived from atmospheric carbon dioxide, and thus do not increase the net amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
For more information about the topic Fossil fuel, read the full article at Wikipedia.org, or see the following related articles:
Hydrocarbon — In chemistry, a hydrocarbon is any chemical compound that consists only of the elements carbon (C) and hydrogen (H). They all contain a carbon ... > read more
Combustion — Combustion or burning is a complex sequence of chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat or both heat ... > read more
Power station — A power station or power plant is a facility for the generation of electric power. At the centre of nearly all power stations is a generator, a ... > read more
Coal — Coal is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by underground mining or open-pit mining (strip mining). It is a readily combustible black or ... > read more
Carbon cycle — The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged between the biosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere of the Earth. ... > read more
Renewable energy — Renewable energy (sources) or RES capture their energy from existing flows of energy, from on-going natural processes, such as sunshine, wind, ... > read more
Biomass — Biomass is organic non-fossil material, collectively. In other words, 'biomass' describes the mass of all biological organisms, dead or alive, ... > read more
Liquid nitrogen economy — A liquid nitrogen economy is a hypothetical proposal for a future economy in which the primary form of energy storage and transport is liquid ... > read more
Natural gas — Natural gas, commonly referred to as gas, is a gaseous fossil fuel consisting primarily of methane. It is found in oil fields and natural gas fields, ... > read more
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