Fossil fuels

• Fossil fuel is a generic term for combustible deposits of organic materials which are formed from
decayed plants and animals while exposed to heat and pressure in the earth’s crust for hundreds of
millions of years.
• Major types of fossil fuels are:-
 Coal
 Oil
 Natural gas
• The use of fossil fuels raises serious environmental concerns. The burning of fossil fuels produces
around 21.3 billion tonnes of CO2 per year. It is estimated that natural processes can only absorb
about half of that amount, so there is a net increase of 10.65 billion tonnes of atmospheric carbon
dioxide per year.
• Burning fossil fuels is responsible for environmental issues that are high on the political agenda these
days. Examples are greenhouse gas accumulation, acidification, air pollution, water pollution, damage
to land surface and ground-level ozone. These environmental problems are caused by release of
pollutants that are naturally present in fossil fuel structures, such as sulphur and nitrogen. Currently,
oil burning is responsible for about 30% of all carbon dioxide emissions to air. Natural gas does not
release as much carbon dioxide because of its methane structure. The largest emissions are cause by
coal combustion. Coal may result in underground fires that are virtually impossible to extinguish.
 Fuel cells

• A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts

the chemical energy of a fuel often hydrogen and
an oxidizing agent often oxygen into electricity through a
pair of redox reactions.
• Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requiring a
continuous source of fuel and oxygen usually from air to
sustain the chemical reaction, whereas in a battery the
chemical energy usually comes from metals and their ions
or oxides that are commonly already present in the battery,
except in flow batteries. Fuel cells can produce electricity
continuously for as long as fuel and oxygen are supplied.
 Alternative fuels
• Alternative fuels, known as non-conventional and advanced fuels, are any
materials or substances that can be used as fuels, other than
conventional fuels like; fossil fuels such as petroleum (oil), coal
and natural gas , as well as nuclear materials such
as uranium and thorium, as well as artificial radioisotope fuels that are
made in nuclear reactors.
• Some well-known alternative fuels include:-
  bio-diesel
  bio-alcohol (methanol, ethanol, butane)
  refuse-derived fuel
 chemically stored electricity (batteries and fuel cells)
 non-fossil methane
 non-fossil natural gas