Fossil fuels, which include oil, natural gas, and coal, account for over 70% of the United States’ primary energy production. Natural gas accounts for 32%, coal for 18%, and petroleum for 28%. Renewable energy only accounts for about 13% of the United States' energy.
Oil (petroleum)
Crude oil is found in the ground and is a thick, gooey liquid that consists of hundreds of different combustible hydrocarbons along with small amounts of sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen impurities. Petroleum is classified as a fossil fuel because they were formed from the decaying remains of organisms that lived 100-500 million years ago. To extract crude oil from underground, hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is used. Because the oil is dispersed in pores and cracks in underground rock formations, large quantities of water, chemicals, and sand are blasted into these formations at extremely high pressures. The high pressures crack the rock surrounding the oil, which allows the trapped oil to be extracted. After it is extracted, the oil is transported to an oil refinery. The oil is first heated, and then distilled to separate it into components with different boiling points; this process is called distillation. Different outputs of this distillation include LPG, gasoline, jet & diesel fuel, kerosene, and heavy gas oil. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), founded in 1960, is a group of 13 countries that have the majority of the world’s crude oil reserves. Oil and natural gas are generally cleaner energy sources than coal, but their combustion still increases carbon dioxide emissions. Also, fracking is a very environmentally detrimental practice because it causes contamination of groundwater and emits greenhouse gasses such as methane.
Coal
Coal is a fossil fuel that is formed from the remains of land plants that were buried 300-400 million years ago, and subjected to intense heat and pressure over those millions of years. There are several stages to this process; peat is partially decayed plant matter with low heat content. Peat is not coal and is the first stage of the coal formation process. After some heat and pressure, it is transformed into lignite (brown coal), which has low heat & sulfur content. After more heat and pressure, it then transforms into bituminous, and then anthracite. Anthracite is hard coal & a highly desirable fossil fuel due to its high heat and low sulfur content. Therefore, it is best to use anthracite as an energy source due to its higher efficiency & lower polluting factors. Coal is a very available fossil fuel, and has a high net energy yield. However, coal is the dirtiest energy source and is highly responsible for CO2 emissions. There are ways to make coal a cleaner fuel, but it will still release CO2. For example, scrubbers can be used in order to clean gasses passing through the smokestacks of coal power plants. The scrubbers remove sulfur dioxide emissions from the coal gas and thus lessen the chance of acid rain in the area.
Works Cited
“Fracking 101.” NRDC, 19 April 2019, https://www.nrdc.org/stories/fracking-101#history. Accessed 30 April 2023.
“Sulfur Dioxide Scrubbers - Air Quality.” Duke Energy, https://www.duke-energy.com/our-company/environment/air-quality/sulfur-dioxide-scrubbers. Accessed 30 April 2023.
“U.S. energy facts explained - consumption and production - U.S. Energy Information Administration.” EIA, https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/us-energy-facts/. Accessed 30 April 2023.
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