There are three basic forms of fuels, the coal, oil and natural gas.  These fuels originated in the era of dinosaurs, the time that is hundreds of millions of years ago.  The time period when these fossil fuels were formed is called Carboniferous period. The term is based on the basic element that all the fossil fuels possess – Carbon.

History of Fossil Fuels

The time period of Carboniferous is something that occurred 286 to 360 years ago, when the earth was a filled with large portions covered with bulk of plants and water. Most of the portion was covered with algae.The algae is a small plant that occupied most of the earth places. The plants and the fern that were present at that time were leafy and thick that made swampy place with water.

The coal was discovered in the time of dinosaurs, also called the Cretaceous Period according the geological era, but most of the deposits of the fossil fuels were discovered in Carboniferous period.  The plants of that time lived their lives and died; as they died they sank deep down in the oceans where they formed a layer of spongy material called peat. As the time passed this peat mixed along with other coats of clay and minerals which turned the peat into hard rock called sedimentary. As with more time passage, the more coats and layers of minerals and mountain sand settled over the peat, making it compressed and releasing all water from it. It then turns into hard coal or natural petroleum or a source of releasing natural gas.

What is Coal?

Coal is a hard rock style substance and a blend of Oxygen, Carbon, Nitrogen, Hydrogen and a different amount of Sulphur. The coal varies in three different types called anthracite, bituminous and lignite.

The Anthracite is the type that is hardest of the three, and contains most of the Carbon content thus giving most energy content. The lignite is the lightest form that has lowest content of Carbon; the Bituminous is the form of coal that is in between. Apart from the discovery of Coal, the basic form Peat is still found in many regions of the world and used as the source of energy.

Coal as source of energy

China was the first country to use Coal as source of energy. They believed that Coal was a type of rock that could burn. Coal is considered as a solid and strong source of energy, it is also found in many states of US, and also from other parts of the world. It is obtained from the ground through different difficult methods. The main method is digging up the ground that much, so that the coal miners can move in through elevators and trains where as second method is by stripping layers and scooping coal and then resettling the layers. The obtained coal is then forwarded to different countries by boats and ships and also through pipelines.

In pipelines the coal is first grounded and blended with water so as to make a watery substance called slurry. This passed through coal is obtained by pumping and utilized in power plants.

The Oil and Petroleum

Another important fossil fuel is oil and petroleum; it also originated 300 years back in history.  According to some scientists, the oil formation is based on tiny diatoms.  Diatoms are small tiny animals of the size of pin head. The diatoms are capable like plants; they change the sunlight into stored energy form.

The formation process requires that the diatom when dead, should fall on the ground of the ocean where it gets compressed among the layers of rocks and other minerals. The energy stored in it is not able to release so the carbon changes into the form of oil under great pressure and heat. As the earth changed its appearance, the packets of natural gas and oil were formed that were obtained for utility.

Oil as source of energy

Oil has been used from old times; people of history have been obtaining oil from the ground level and consuming it in their daily lives and obtained it from the Euphrates River.  In Egypt, the ancient people used the oil to heal wounds and lit up lamps. Crude oil has been explored and used in different regions of world like in Native America, the people used to skim out the oil from the sea by using blankets.

The oil was used as a medicine and also to make canoes waterproof.  The crude oil was best used in the revolutionary War. It is famous that the Native Americans taught George Washington troops how to heal frostbite with the oil.

With a little more time passage, the petroleum oil was substituted by the whale oil for the purpose of lightening lamp as the price of whale oil was increased with the increase among the public for the demand of crude oil for lightening lamps. In this duration the coal was obtained in the form of liquid or by skimming lakes.

The First Oil Well

Edwin L. Drake was the person who discovered the obtaining of oil from the well by pumping it. Today this method is still used in most parts of the world to obtain oil from the underground and fill up the barrels for utility. In today’s world, the oil and petroleum is obtained from the ground of earth and spread to other regions where it is demanded.  There are many companies that have drilled down the earth surface and collect oil, gas and other fuels and then forwarded to the utility places through pipelines or ships.

The crude oil or the raw substance is first refined to use it in various activities and purposes. Regions like Middle East have rich resources of oil, and the oil from this place is exported to other countries even US.

Role of Refineries

The oil that is received or obtained in a land is stored in huge tanks, the raw substance is then treated to make different forms so as to use it for different purposes. The oil is then formed into diesel oil, oil for ships, oil for transportation, oil for formation of plastic-wonder how many products are made up of plastic? Yes, all that is made up of plastic, from pen to fertilizers is all formed by oil. The oil is commonly used in transportation, we will learn more about the transportation energy in our next post.

Natural Gas

Natural gas was first discovered in the region of Iran. The seeps of natural gas were found in the Baku region which is called Azerbaijan stated according to some earlier writers. The evolution of gas was taken for worshipping by prehistoric Persians.

Properties of Natural Gas

The Natural gas is lighter than air, it is made up of compound methane, and the formula is CH4 that is one atom of Carbon and four atoms of Hydrogen. The natural gas is found nearby the petroleum ground, it is forwarded to different regions through pipelines.  The natural gas before forwarded into pipes, is mixed with chemical so that it gives off odor. Natural gas doesn’t have any odor, so it is mixed with the chemical to make it easy to sort its leakage at any point.

Importance of Fossil Fuels

The fossil fuels are very important for us in our daily lives, we use it and we can’t survive as well if don’t get it properly.  Fossil fuels were formed in old times, the times of dinosaurs. So we shall not waste it as it is once gone cannot be regained. It cannot be formed again, so its storing is important and thus we should use it responsibly to retain some for our future generations too.

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