Ch 1: Reliance On Fossil Fuels Flashcards
List the 3 types of fossil fuels.
Coal, crude oil and natural gas
What is the definition of a fossil fuel?
A fuel consisting of the remains of organisms preserved in rocks in the Earth’s crust with high carbon and hydrogen content.
What is the definition of renewable energy?
A form of energy derived from natural sources that do not use up natural resources to harm the environment.
What are some examples of forms of renewable energy sources?
Wind, solar, biomass and tidal.
Why are fossil fuels not a reliable source of energy?
Fossil fuels will run out and cannot be replenished in a human lifetime.
Why are renewable energy sources a more efficient source of energy?
Renewables are energy sources that will never run out or can be replenished in a human lifetime.
How is coal formed?
- Coal is formed from the dead remains of plants.
- These dead plants fall and accumulate on the ground overtime.
- The ever-increasing weight compresses the remains into peat.
- Over hundreds of millions of years this peat gets further compressed and temperatures increased.
- Eventually the remains turn into different grades of coal which can then be mined and used by humans.
How is crude oil and natural gas formed?
- Natural gas and crude oil are formed from the dead remains of sea organisms.
- These sea organisms die and settle on the bottom of the oceans.
- Other remains and sediments gather on top causing an increasing pressure on the dead remains.
- The increase in pressure causes an increase in temperature.
- Over hundreds of millions of years, the pressure and temperatures are sufficient to cause crude oil to be formed.
- In the underground crude oil wells, which are located throughout a crude oil field, natural gas can get trapped at the top with crude oil below.
What percentage of their energy do nations rely on fossil fuels for?
In 1960s - 94%
In 2015 - 80%
What are the 4 forms that fossil fuels are required to provide for?
Plastics, pharmaceuticals, transport and fibres.
What are the uses of plastic?
Food packaging and single use bags
Electronic devices
Miscellaneous (chairs, clothes, saucepans, etc)
How are fossil fuels used in pharmaceuticals?
Fractions of crude oil is used to produce medicine such as aspirin and penicillin.
How are fossil fuels used for transport?
- The transportation sector is massively reliant on crude oil to function across the world.
- The internal combustion engine which relies on petrol and diesel dominates transportation modes in developed nations.
What are good alternatives to using fossil fuels for transportation?
- Electric cars.
- Hydrogen fuel cell cars.
- Cycling.
- Walking.
- Use of public transportation.
What was the First Nation to declare a national climate emergency?
The UK in 2019.
What was the next nation to declare a climate change emergency?
Ireland 2 weeks after the UK.
Why is global action required?
- Every nation is using fossil fuels.
- The impact of excessive resource use affects the whole world.
What is being done to help the global action?
There needs to be a transition towards renewables and low carbon alternative.
What nation is the largest consumer of crude oil?
USA with contributing to 20% of the world’s overall crude oil consumption.
What is the nation that contributes the second most of the world’s crude oil consumption?
China, contributing to 13% of the world’s overall crude oil consumption.
Why do we need to conserve fossil fuels?
Fossil fuels take hundreds of millions of years to form. The rate of usage of fossil fuels has expanded rapidly since the Industrial Revolution.
How long is coal projected to last?
Around 114 years.
How long are crude oil and natural gas projected to last?
50 years.
How does the advancements in technology affect the finding of crude oil fields?
The advancements in technology would allow more crude oil fields to be found and faster but this can also lead to a decrease in crude oil fields over time if they have all been extracted.
