Fossil fuels - oil, coal, oil shale, natural gas

Disputes about the shape of the Earth do not detract from the meaning of its contents. The most important fossil has always been groundwater. They provide the primary need of the human body. However, without fossil fuels, which is the main energy supplier for human civilization, human life seems completely different.

Fuel is an energy source

Among all the fossils hidden in the bowels of the earth, fuel belongs to a combustible (or sedimentary) form.

The basis of combustible substances is hydrocarbon, so one of the effects of the combustion reaction is the release of energy, which can easily be used to improve the comfort of a person's life. Over the past decade, about 90% of all energy used on Earth was produced using fossil fuels. This fact makes us think a lot, considering that the wealth of the planet’s bowels belongs to non-renewable energy sources and is depleted over time.

Types of fuel

The supplier of all types of fossil fuels is oil, coal and natural gas.

Brief description of minerals used as fuel

The raw materials for energy production are oil, coal, oil shale, natural gas, gas hydrates, peat.

Oil - a liquid related to combustible (sedimentary) minerals. Consists of hydrocarbons and other chemical elements. The color of the liquid, depending on the composition, varies between light brown, dark brown and black. Compounds of yellow-green and colorless color are rare. The presence of nitrogen, sulfur and oxygen-containing elements in oil determines its color and smell.

Coal is a name of Latin origin. Carbō is the international name for carbon. The composition contains bituminous masses and plant debris. This is an organic compound that has become the subject of slow decomposition under the influence of external factors (geological and biological).

Oil shales, like coal , are a representative of a group of solid fossil fuels, or caustobioliths (which literally translates from Greek as “a burning stone of life”). During dry distillation (under the influence of high temperatures) it forms resins that are close in their chemical composition to oil. Minerals (calcide, dolomite, quartz, pyrite, etc.) predominate in the composition of shales, but organic substances (kerogen) are also present, which only in high-quality rocks reach 50% of the total composition.

Natural gas is a gaseous substance formed during the decomposition of organic substances. In the bowels of the Earth there are three types of accumulation of gas mixtures: individual accumulations, gas caps of oil fields and in the composition of oil or water. Under optimal climatic conditions, the substance is only in a gaseous state. It is possible to be found in the earth's interior in the form of crystals (natural gas hydrates).

Gas hydrates are crystalline formations formed from water and gas under certain conditions. They belong to the group of compounds of variable composition.

Peat is a loose rock used as fuel, heat-insulating material, fertilizer. It is a gas-bearing mineral; it is used as a fuel in many regions.

Origin

Everything that modern man extracts in the bowels of the earth relates to non-renewable natural resources. For their appearance, it took millions of years and special geological conditions. A large amount of fossil fuel was formed in the Mesozoic.

Oil - according to the biogenic theory of its origin, the formation lasted for hundreds of millions of years from organic matter of sedimentary rocks.

Coal - is formed under the condition that the decomposing plant material is replenished faster than its decomposition. Suitable places for such a process are swamps. Stagnant water protects the layer of plant mass from complete destruction by bacteria through a low oxygen content in it. Coal is divided into humus (comes from the remains of wood, leaves, stems) and sapropelite (formed mainly from algae).

The raw material for the formation of coal can be called peat. When immersed under sediment layers, water and gases are lost under compression and coal is formed.

Combustible shales - the organic component is formed using biochemical transformations of simple algae. It is divided into two types: thallomoalginite (contains algae with preserved cellular structure) and colloalginite (algae with loss of cellular structure).

Natural gas - according to the same theory of the biogenic origin of minerals, natural gas is formed at higher pressure and temperature readings than oil, which is proved by a deeper occurrence of deposits. They are formed from the same natural material (the remains of living organisms).

Gas hydrates are such formations for the appearance of which special thermobaric conditions are necessary. Therefore, they are formed mainly on marine bottom sediments and frozen rocks. They can also form on the walls of pipes during gas production, in connection with which the fossil is heated to a temperature above hydrate formation.

Peat - is formed in the conditions of swamps from not completely decomposed organic remains of plants. It is deposited on the surface of the soil.

Production

Coal and natural gas differ not only in the way they rise to the surface. Deposits of gas are located deeper than the rest - from one to several kilometers inland. The substance is located in the pores of the reservoir (reservoir containing natural gas). The force that forces the substance to rise upward is the pressure difference in the subterranean formations and the collection system. Production takes place using wells that try to distribute evenly throughout the entire field. Fuel production, thus, avoids gas flows between sections and untimely flooding of deposits.

Oil and gas production technologies have some similarities. Types of oil production are distinguished by the methods of raising the substance to the surface:

• fountain (technology similar to gas, based on the pressure difference underground and in the fluid delivery system);
• gas lift;
• using an electric centrifugal pump;
• with installation of an electric screw pump;
• sucker rod pumps (sometimes connected to a ground rocking machine).

The method of extraction depends on the depth of the substance. There are a lot of options for raising oil to the surface.

The method of developing a coal deposit also depends on the features of the occurrence of coal in the soil. An open method is being developed when a fossil is located at a level of one hundred meters from the surface. Often a mixed type of production is made: first by the open method, then by underground (using the faces). Coal deposits are rich in other resources of consumer importance: these are valuable metals, methane, rare metals, underground waters.

Shale deposits are developed either by the mine method (considered low efficiency) or by production in the reservoir, when the rock is heated underground. Due to the complexity of the technology, production is carried out in very limited quantities.

Peat is extracted by draining swamps. Due to the appearance of oxygen, aerobic microorganisms are activated, decomposing its organic matter, which leads to the release of carbon dioxide at a tremendous speed. Peat is the cheapest type of fuel; its extraction is carried out constantly in compliance with certain rules.

Recoverable reserves

One of the assessments of the well-being of society is made by the consumption of fuel per capita: the more consumption, the more comfortable people live. This fact (and not only) forces humanity to increase fuel production, affecting pricing. The price of oil today is defined by such an economic term as “netback”. This term refers to the price for an oil refinery, which includes the weighted average cost of oil products (produced from the purchased substance) and the delivery of raw materials to the enterprise.

Trading exchanges sell oil at CIF prices, which literally sounds like “cost, insurance and freight.” From this we can conclude that the price of oil today at transaction prices includes the price of raw materials, transportation costs for its delivery.

Consumption rate

Given the increasing rate of consumption of natural resources, it is difficult to give an unambiguous assessment of the availability of fuel for a long period. With the current dynamics, oil production in 2018 will amount to 3 billion tons, which will lead to the depletion of world reserves by 80% by 2030. The availability of black gold is projected within 55 - 50 years. Natural gas can be exhausted after 60 years at modern rates of consumption.

There are much more coal reserves on Earth than oil and gas. However, over the past decade, its production has increased, and if the pace does not fall, then out of the planned 420 years (existing forecasts), reserves will be depleted in 200.

Environmental impact

The active use of fossil fuels leads to an increase in the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, the harmful effects on the planet’s climate are confirmed by international environmental organizations. If CO2 emissions are not reduced, an environmental catastrophe is unavoidable, the beginning of which contemporaries can observe. According to preliminary estimates, from 60% to 80% of all fossil fuel reserves should remain untouched to stabilize the situation on Earth. However, this is not the only side effect of using fossil fuels. The extraction, transportation, and refining at the refinery itself contribute to environmental pollution with much more toxic substances. An example is the accident in the Gulf of Mexico, which led to the suspension of the Gulf Stream.

Limitations and Alternatives

The extraction of fossil fuels is a profitable business for companies whose main limitation is the depletion of natural resources. Usually they forget to mention that the voids formed by human activity in the bowels of the earth contribute to the disappearance of fresh water on the surface and its escape into deeper layers. The disappearance of drinking water on Earth cannot be justified by any of the benefits of the extraction of fossil fuels. And it will happen if humanity does not rationalize its stay on the planet.

Five years ago motorcycles and cars with new generation engines (fuelless) appeared in China. But they were released in a strictly limited quantity (for a certain circle of people), and the technology became classified. This only indicates the short-sightedness of human greed, because if you can "make money" on oil and gas, no one will stop the oil magnates from doing this.

Conclusion

Along with well-known alternative (renewable) energy sources, there are less costly, but classified technologies. Nevertheless, their application must inevitably enter the life of a person, otherwise the future will not be as long and cloudless as “businessmen” imagine it.