Where Fossil Fuels Come From

There are three major forms of fossil fuels: coal, oil

and natural gas. All three were formed many
hundreds of millions of years ago before the time of
the dinosaurs hence the name fossil fuels. The age
they were formed is called the Carboniferous Period.
It was part of the Paleooic !ra. "Carboniferous"
gets its name from carbon, the basic element in coal
and other fossil fuels.
The Carboniferous Period occurred from about "#$
to %&# million years ago. At the time, the land was
co'ered with swamps (lled with huge trees, ferns
and other large leafy plants, similar to the picture abo'e. The water and seas were (lled with
algae the green stu) that forms on a stagnant pool of water. Algae are actually millions of 'ery
small plants.
*ome deposits of coal can be found during the time of the dinosaurs. +or e,ample, thin carbon
layers can be found during the late Cretaceous Period -#. million years ago/ the time of
Tyrannosaurus 0e,. 1ut the main deposits of fossil fuels are from the Carboniferous Period. +or
more about the 'arious geologic eras, go to www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/help/timeform.html
As the trees and plants died, they san2 to the bottom of the swamps of oceans. They formed
layers of a spongy material called peat. 3'er many hundreds of years, the peat was co'ered by
sand and clay and other minerals, which turned into a type of roc2 called sedimentary.
4ore and more roc2 piled on top of more roc2, and it weighed more and more. It began to press
down on the peat. The peat was s5ueeed and s5ueeed until the water came out of it and it
e'entually, o'er millions of years6 it turned into coal, oil or petroleum, and natural gas.
Coal
Coal is a hard, blac2 colored roc27li2e substance. It is made up of
carbon, hydrogen, o,ygen, nitrogen and 'arying amounts of
sulphur. There are three main types of coal anthracite,
bituminous and lignite. Anthracite coal is the hardest and has
more carbon, which gi'es it higher energy content. 8ignite is the
softest and is low in carbon but high in hydrogen and o,ygen
content. 1ituminous is in between. Today, the precursor to coal
9peat9is still found in many countries and is also used as an
energy source.
The earliest 2nown use of coal was in China. Coal from the +u7
shun mine in north eastern China may ha'e been used to smelt
copper as early as ",$$$ years ago. The Chinese thought coal was a stone that could burn.
Coal is found in many of the lower :& states of ;.*.
and throughout the rest of the world. Coal is mined
out of the ground using 'arious methods. *ome
coal mines are dug by sin2ing 'ertical or horiontal
shafts deep underground, and coal miners tra'el by
ele'ators or trains deep underground to dig the
coal. 3ther coal is mined in strip mines where huge
steam sho'els strip away the top layers abo'e the
coal. The layers are then restored after the coal is
ta2en away.
The coal is then shipped by train and boats and e'en in pipelines. In pipelines, the coal is ground
up and mi,ed with water to ma2e what<s called slurry. This is then pumped many miles through
pipelines. At the other end, the coal is used to fuel power plants and other factories.
Oil or Petroleum
3il is another fossil fuel. It was also formed more than "$$
million years ago. *ome scientists say that tiny diatoms
are the source of oil. =iatoms are sea creatures the sie of
a pin head. They do one thing just li2e plants6 they can
con'ert sunlight directly into stored energy.
In the graphic on the left, as the diatoms died they fell to
the sea >oor -?/. @ere they were buried under sediment
and other roc2 -%/. The roc2 s5ueeed the diatoms and
the energy in their bodies could not escape. The carbon
e'entually turned into oil under great pressure and heat.
As the earth changed and mo'ed and folded poc2ets
where oil and natural gas can be found were formed -"/.
3il has been used for more than .,$$$7#,$$$ years. The
ancient *umerians, Assyrians and 1abylonians used crude oil and asphalt -ApitchA/ collected from
large seeps at Tuttul -modern7day @it/ on the !uphrates 0i'er. A seep is a place on the ground
where the oil lea2s up from below ground. The ancient !gyptians, used li5uid oil as a medicine
for wounds, and oil has been used in lamps to pro'ide light.
The =ead *ea, near the modern Country of Israel, used to be called 8a2e
Asphaltites. The word asphalt was deri'ed is from that term because of
the lumps of gooey petroleum that were washed up on the la2e shores
from underwater seeps.
In Borth America, Bati'e Americans used blan2ets to s2im oil o) the
surface of streams and la2es. They used oil as medicine and to ma2e
canoes water7proof. =uring the 0e'olutionary Car, Bati'e Americans
taught Deorge Cashington<s troops how to treat frostbite with oil.
As our country grew, the demand for oil continued to increase as a fuel
for lamps. Petroleum oil began to replace whale oil in lamps because the
price for whale oil was 'ery high. =uring this time, most petroleum oil
came from distilling coal into a li5uid or by s2imming it o) of la2es just
as the Bati'e Americans did.
Then on August %E, ?&.F, !dwin 8. =ra2e -the man standing on the right in the blac2 and white
picture to the right/, struc2 li5uid oil at his well near Titus'ille, Pennsyl'ania. @e found oil under
ground and a way that could pump it to the surface. The well pumped the oil into barrels made
out of wood. This method of drilling for oil is still being used today all o'er the world in areas
where oil can be found below the surface.
3il and natural gas are
found under ground
between folds of roc2
and in areas of roc2 that
are porous and contain
the oils within the roc2
itself. The folds of roc2
were formed as the
earth shifts and mo'es. It<s similar to how a small, throw carpet will bunch up in places on the
>oor.
To (nd oil and natural gas, companies drill through the earth to the deposits deep below the
surface. The oil and natural gas are then pumped from below the ground by oil rigs -li2e in the
picture/. They then usually tra'el through pipelines or by ship.
3il is found in ?& of the .& counties in California. Gern County, the County where 1a2ers(eld is
found, is one of the largest oil production places in the country. 1ut we only get one7half of our oil
from California wells. The rest comes from Alas2a, and an increasing amount comes from other
countries. In the entire ;.*., more than .$ percent of all the oil we use comes from outside the
country... most of it from the 4iddle !ast.
3il is brought to California by large tan2er ships. The petroleum or crude oil must be changed or
re(ned into other products before it can be used.
Refneries
3il is stored in large tan2s until it is sent to
'arious places to be used. At oil re(neries,
crude oil is split into 'arious types of
products by heating the thic2 blac2 oil.
3il is made into many di)erent products
fertiliers for farms, the clothes you wear,
the toothbrush you use, the plastic bottle that holds your mil2, the plastic pen that you write
with. They all came from oil. There are thousands of other products that come from oil. Almost all
plastic comes originally from oil. Can you thin2 of some other things made from oilH
The products include gasoline, diesel fuel, a'iation or
jet fuel, home heating oil, oil for ships and oil to burn
in power plants to ma2e electricity. @ere<s what a
barrel of crude oil can ma2e.
In California, E: percent of our oil is used for
transportation cars, planes, truc2s, buses and
motorcycles.
Natural as
*ometime between #,$$$ to %,$$$ years 1C! -1efore the Common !ra/, the (rst disco'eries of
natural gas seeps were made in Iran. 4any early writers described the natural petroleum seeps
in the 4iddle !ast, especially in the 1a2u region of what is now Aerbaijan. The gas seeps,
probably (rst ignited by lightning, pro'ided the fuel for the Aeternal (resA of the (re7worshiping
religion of the ancient Persians.
Batural gas is lighter than air. Batural gas is mostly made up of a gas called methane. 4ethane is
a simple chemical compound that is made up of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Its chemical
formula is C@: one atom of carbon along with four atoms hydrogen. This gas is highly
>ammable.
Batural gas is usually found near petroleum underground. It is pumped from below ground and
tra'els in pipelines to storage areas. The ne,t chapter loo2s at that pipeline system.
Batural gas usually has no odor and you can<t see it. 1efore it is sent to the pipelines and storage
tan2s, it is mi,ed with a chemical that gi'es a strong odor. The odor smells almost li2e rotten
eggs. The odor ma2es it easy to smell if there is a lea2.
!ner"y #afety Note$
%f you smell that rotten e"" smell in your house& tell your folks and "et out of the
house 'uickly. (on)t turn on any li"hts or other electrical de*ices. + spark from a li"ht
switch can i"nite the "as *ery easily. o to a nei"hbor)s house and call ,-.-. for
emer"ency help.
#a*in" Fossil Fuels
+ossil fuels ta2e millions of years to ma2e. Ce are using up the fuels that were made more than
"$$ million years ago before the time of the dinosaurs. 3nce they are gone, they are gone.
*o, it<s best to not waste fossil fuels. They are not renewable6 they can<t really be made again.
Ce can sa'e fossil fuels by conser'ing energy.
R!F/ http:IIwww.energy5uest.ca.go'IstoryIchapter$&.html
+uels such as coal, oil and natural gas were formed o'er millions of years from organic matter
li2e plan2ton, plants and other life forms. 3'er time, sand, sediment and roc2 buried the organic
matter and it e'entually formed large 5uantities of fuels. These underground resources, 2nown
as fossil fuels, are still the primary fuel source for electricity, heating and powering 'ehicles
around the globe.
Fi*e main fossil fuels
Coal is a combustible blac2 or brown organic sedimentary roc2. It is mostly carbon and is
typically found as layers -coal beds/ or 'eins -coal seams/.
Natural "as is a combustible mi, of hydrocarbon gases. It is colourless and consists
mainly of methane -C@:/. Conventional gas is easily e,tracted6 Juncon'entional gasK
re5uires more sophisticated e,traction technologies.
Oil is mostly 2nown as crude oil or condensate, but includes all li5uid hydrocarbon fossil
fuels. Petroleum and li5ue(ed petroleum gas -8PD/ are the most common types of fuel
obtained from oil e,traction and re(ning.
Petroleum is a li5uid fuel made of hydrocarbons and other li5uid organic compounds. It
refers to both naturally occurring unprocessed crude oils and petroleum products made of
re(ned crude oil.
0i'uefed petroleum "as or 0P is hea'ier than natural gas. Although gaseous under
normal atmospheric conditions, 8PD is stored under modest pressures in its li5uid form and
so can be more easily transported and stored.
R!F/ http:IIwww.originenergy.com.auI:%%.I+ossil7fuels