FOSSIL FUELS

FOSSIL FUELS

• Fossil fuels are a non renewable energy source that formed over 300 million years ago during the Carboniferous period, long before the dinosaurs romped the earth.
• When plant and animals died, their bodies decomposed and were buried under layers of earth. Millions of years later we have the three forms of fossil fuels; oil, natural gas, and coal. Fossil fuels are made up of plant and animal matter.
• Depending on the plant or animal it caused different fossil fuels. That why in our social studies books, you find groups of oil or coal.. Not scattered ever where usually. They are in the groups like that because that's where the animal might have lived and died.

OIL

• Oil is a thick, black, goopy liquid also known as petroleum. It's found way down in the ground, usually between layers of rock. To get oil out, a well is dug. Digging a well is like putting a straw in a can of pop. Once the straw is in the hole, the oil is sucked up the pipe like the pop is sucked up the straw. Oil is the carried to the pipelines and large tanker ships. A refinery changes the oil into products like gasoline, jet fuel and diesel fuel.

NATURAL GAS

• Natural gas is lighter than air. Natural gas is made up of methane, which is simple for chemical compound made up of carbon and hydrogen atoms. This gas is highly flammable so don't fart near it. Natural gas is found near the oil pumped in the grond. It's pumped from wells that tap into source and send it to large pipelines. Because you can't smell or see natural gas, it is mixed with a chemical to give it a sticky smell.. rotten eggs. That way it's easier to tell if their is a leak. After the sticky chemical is added, the natural gas is sent through underground pipes which go to your home so you can cook food and heat your house.

COAL

• Coal comes in several different formes from black rocks, (the kind you receive in your stocking) or brown dirt. Some form burn hotter and cleaner than others. Coal is used to create more than half of all the electricity made in the United States. In the states many of the coal beds are near the grounds surface. We get the coal by mining it. Most coal is transported by trains to power plants where it's burned to make steam. The steam turned turbines which produces electricity.