Advantages of Fossil Fuels

A major advantage of fossil fuels is their capacity to generate huge amounts of electricity
in just a single location.

Fossil fuels are very easy to find.

When coal is used in power plants, they are very cost effective. Coal is also in abundant
supply.

Transporting oil and gas to the power stations can be made through the use of pipes
making it an easy task.

Power plants that utilize gas are very efficient.

Power stations that make use of fossil fuel can be constructed in almost any location. This
is possible as long as large quantities of fuel can be easily brought to the power plants.

Disadvantages of Fossil Fuels

Pollution is a major disadvantage of fossil fuels. This is because they

give off carbon dioxide when burned thereby causing a greenhouse
effect. This is also the main contributory factor to the global warming
experienced by the earth today.
Coal also produces carbon dioxide when burned compared to burning
oil or gas. Additionally, it gives off sulphur dioxide, a kind of gas that
creates acid rain.
Environmentally, the mining of coal results in the destruction of wide
areas of land. Mining this fossil fuel is also difficult and may endanger
the lives of miners. Coal mining is considered one of the most
dangerous jobs in the world.
Power stations that utilize coal need large amounts of fuel. In other
words, they not only need truckloads but trainloads of coal on a regular
basis to continue operating and generating electricity. This only means
that coal-fired power plants should have reserves of coal in a large area
near the plant?s location.
Use of natural gas can cause unpleasant odors and some problems
especially with transportation.

 Use of crude oil causes pollution and poses environmental hazards such
as oil spills when oil tankers, for instance, experience leaks or drown
deep under the sea. Crude oil contains toxic chemicals which cause air
pollutants when combusted.

Activity 3 - Fossil Fuels - The pros and cons

Advantages
Fossil fuels are
relatively cheap and plentiful

Disadvantages
Fossil fuels will become more
and more expensive to extract

Advanced technologies
Extracting fuel will become more
have been developed to allow dangerous as the mines get deeper or
safe extraction.
the oil-rigs go further out to sea.
The technology already
Pollution from these fuels is said
exists for their use e.g. petrol- to be responsible for global warming,
driven engines
acid rain, and oil spillage

The means of
It is very expensive to control the
controlling pollution from these pollution and the price of fuel would
fuels exists.
have to rise.
The income from the
sale of the fuels can help a
country's economy
At present, no other
energy source can fully and
safely replace fossil fuels.

Advantages of Fossil Fuels

Depending on the fuel, fossil fuels are readily available. While its possible
that were going to have a shortage in the future, it hasnt happened yet,
and new methods of exploiting these fuels are invented all the time. These
fuels are easy to use, and a simple combustion process turns them into
methods for running a vehicle, generating electricity, or providing heat.
Fossil fuels are currently pretty cheap, as are the methods of generating
energy from them. With our existing distribution networks, we can get fossil
fuels of all kinds all over the world. That makes it easy to use them, no
matter where you are. Many alternative fuels remain expensive, hard to
distribute, difficult to get energy from and hard to access, making the switch
over extremely difficult.
Disadvantages of Fossil Fuels
Of course, there are disadvantages to these fuels, as well. The biggest is
probably the level of pollution they create. This varies by fuel, but oil and
coal burning are responsible for acid rain and possibly for changing the
worlds climate, as well. We cant tell to what degree fossil fuel emissions
are responsible for climate change, but the possibility is a worrisome one.
Theres also the problem where fossil fuels are nonrenewable. It would take
millions of years to replace coal, and oil, and were using them quickly.
Theres a limited amount of these fuels available, and were not actually
sure where that limit is. Technologies to get more out of the earth are
advancing, but they dont seem to be doing it as quickly as our demand is
growing. In addition, while coal is much more plentiful than oil, extraction of
coal can be very unsafe, and is damaging to the environment on a large
scale, causing erosion, acidification of the environment, and destruction of
wild lands. Fossil fuels are cheap and convenient, and theyve been used for
long enough that were used to depending on them. The vast majority of our
infrastructure uses these fuels, and changing over from them will be a
difficult process. However, environmental concerns and shortages will likely
give us reason to do so. Thats why its important to investigate other
options as well