Basic Curiosity 1: Why has the usage of FOSSIL FUELS led to CLIMATE CHANGE?
- Ju Eun Yim
- Jul 25, 2019
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 6, 2019
Fossil fuels are coal, oil and gas. They are made from the remains of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago. When dead vegetation is buried deep down under lots of pressure and high temperature, it turns into peat and then, coal. Oil is formed similarly from the soft remains of sea plants and animals that form on the sea floor. However unlike coal, oil is less dense and can migrate up through rock into oil trap and gas is formed above the trap.
As fossil fuels are made from the debris of organisms, they are all from organic compounds, which means their basic structure are composed of ‘C, carbons’. The reason why fossil fuels are called ‘fuels’ is that carbon compounds (such as methane CH4 below produce energy (light and heat) when burned. [Combustion reaction]
By distillation of crude oil, we obtain not only petrol, diesel, fuel oil for transportation but also various chemicals to produce pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and plastics. However, you can see the problems of burning fossil fuels by simply looking at the reaction above. CO2 ! Yes. By exploiting fossil fuels from nature, we have been introduced unnecessary carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Since this well-known greenhouse gas has been emitted far much than the amount that Nature can self-purify, the world's average surface temperature is rising and weather events are becoming more extreme, the omens of potentially catastrophic clwimate change to come.
Thus, the solution to the problem seems quite simple. Reduce carbon dioxide emission! That is why OECD countries have ratified actions to reduce its emission in Paris, 2018. Moreover, more technologies have been developed to find alternatives to fossil fuels. We are already familiar with renewable energies including wind, solar and water energies. Furthermore, hydrogen power has become a main agenda for future clean energy. It is also important for us to less rely on fossil fuels for our commodities. Hence, bioenergy has been slowly replacing a feedstock for plastics production (I am going to hinge upon the problem of existing plastic wastes soon). Lastly, technologies such as capturing CO2 in various industries will play a vital role for zero-carbon economy.
So far, I have briefly explained how usage of fossil fuel have caused global climate change. Next, I am going to delve into possible solutions mentioned above by looking into fundamental chemistry.
[Reference Websites]
Comments