| Fossil fuels are responsible for providing the | | | | production of plastic and medications among many |
| energy needed worldwide for many household | | | | other products. |
| and industrial purposes today. Deposits of fossil | | | | -Coal: Coal forms from plants such as ferns, moss |
| fuels are found throughout the world deep inside | | | | and trees which lived near shorelines and in |
| the earth. Fossil fuels are the carbon rich remains | | | | swamps and bogs millions of years ago. When |
| of ancient vegetation and other organisms that | | | | these plants die, they are slowly covered with |
| have endured intense heat and pressure inside the | | | | sediment and over time pressed deep into the |
| earth over periods of millions of years. Severe | | | | earth where they are affected by mounting heat |
| heat and pressure over time convert these | | | | and pressure. Under these conditions, the organic |
| organic remains into fossil fuels, which collect in | | | | matter becomes richer in carbon and hydrogen, |
| reservoirs that are sought after by oil focused | | | | and increasingly deprived of oxygen. Coal goes |
| companies such as Western Pipeline Corporation | | | | through various stages of development based on |
| as well as investors for extraction. Though quite a | | | | its increasing carbon content, and coal containing |
| few types of fossil fuels exist, here we examine | | | | higher levels of carbon burns cleaner than those |
| three main types that are widely utilized for | | | | with lower levels. The purest form of coal is |
| energy production and many other products: | | | | graphite, which consists almost entirely of carbon. |
| petroleum, coal and natural gas. | | | | -Natural Gas: Natural gas forms mainly from the |
| -Petroleum: Also called crude oil, the term | | | | remains of plankton, or a type of small water |
| petroleum encompasses multiple types of | | | | organisms including algae. Consisting mostly of |
| hydrocarbons, which are compounds consisting | | | | methane, natural gas is often found on top of |
| primarily of hydrogen and carbon but possibly | | | | deposits of petroleum due to its lower density, |
| containing other elements as well. Petroleum | | | | and is extracted in the same process. However, |
| forms mainly from marine vegetation and bacteria | | | | deposits containing only natural gas do exist. |
| that lived in the oceans or other saltwater | | | | Natural gas is desirable in part because it burns |
| environments millions of years ago. Petroleum | | | | cleaner than coal and petroleum. Natural gas is |
| deposits are often found in the same locations as | | | | commonly used in residential applications for home |
| natural gas, each of which can be extracted for | | | | heating and has a myriad of other applications. |
| energy production. Petroleum is used in the | | | | |