How many times do you think you use fossil fuels every day? It’s probably more than you think. If your house is heated with oil or natural gas, you may use these fuels before you even get out of bed. You might use them again to take a shower, cook your breakfast, or drive to work. And you also rely on them in many ways you can’t see. They’re in countless objects you use every day—plastics, cosmetics, and even some medicines.
Fossil fuels are so ubiquitous that it’s hard to imagine a world without them. But in many ways, a world like this would be better than ours. The air and water would be cleaner. The weather would be less extreme. And it’s also quite possible we’d all be spending less on our electric bills.
What are fossil fuels?
Fossil fuels are the remains of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago. Coal is formed from plants, while oil and gas come from tiny creatures called plankton. These substances contain all the energy that these living things stored in their bodies while they were alive. Burning them releases all that stored energy at once.
At the same time, it releases large amounts of carbon in the fuel. Most of this enters the atmosphere as carbon dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse gas responsible for global warming. Burning fossil fuel also releases other greenhouse gases, such as nitrous oxide (N2O). And it produces a variety of other chemicals that can pollute the air and water.
The many uses of fossil fuels
For centuries, the world has relied heavily on fossil fuels. Currently, they account for about 80% of all energy use in the U.S. and the world as a whole. Uses of fossil fuels include:
- Transportation. Oil, or petroleum, provides over 90% of all energy used for transportation in the U.S. It’s the raw material of gasoline used in cars, diesel fuel for trucks, and jet fuel.
- Generating electricity. About 60% of all U.S. power plants run on coal or natural gas. They burn the fuel to heat water and produce steam, which turns the turbines that generate power.
- Petroleum products. Oil and gas aren’t only used for energy. They’re also ingredients in many products, including plastics, fertilizers, lubricants, and pharmaceuticals.
- Residential and commercial use. Many homes and businesses use fossil fuels for heating. They’re also used for heating water, cooking, and drying clothes.
Are there any advantages to using fossil fuels?
Obviously, we wouldn’t rely on fossil fuels as much as we do if they didn’t have some benefits. For over 200 years, they have been the most reliable way to power our homes and industries. We’ve built our society around them, and that’s one reason they remain so popular today.
High energy content
Fossil fuels are a highly efficient source of energy. That means a relatively small amount of oil or gas can produce a large amount of energy. This is especially important in transportation, since a vehicle needs to carry around its own fuel supply. A pound of gasoline holds about 40 times as much energy as a pound of batteries in an electric car. Fossil fuels are also capable of producing the large amounts of heat needed for industrial processes like steel smelting.
Global availability
Another advantage of fossil fuels is that they’re widely available. Large deposits of coal, oil and gas exist in many parts of the world. And for areas that don’t have them, these fuels are easy to transport. In some parts of the world, fossil fuel use is currently the only alternative to energy poverty.
On-demand use
The electric grid only works if the amount of power produced matches the amount used. But many renewable energy sources, such as wind power and solar power, can’t produce electricity on demand. They only work when the wind is blowing or the sun is shining. Fossil fuels, by contrast, are easy to store until they’re needed.
Thousands of uses
Fossil fuels go into many of the products we use every day. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, there are over 6,000 products made from oil and natural gas. This includes all kinds of plastic goods, from cell phones to fabrics. Petrochemicals (compounds derived from oil and gas) are also used in fertilizer, lubricants, and pharmaceuticals.
Existing infrastructure
Nowadays, there are alternatives to many fossil fuel uses. For instance, it’s possible to heat homes with electricity and produce power with solar panels. But in many cases, the systems we have now were set up to run on fossil fuels. Switching energy sources means replacing these systems, which takes both time and money.
Basis of the global economy
Fossil fuels play a big role in many countries’ economies. Extracting, transporting, processing, and using them provides nearly 1.7 million jobs in the U.S. alone. Clean energy provides jobs too—more of them worldwide, in fact—but not always in the same places. For countries with a large fossil fuel sector, switching away from fossil fuels is a real blow to the economy.
