By: Sowmiya Wigneswaran
Everyday, millions of people worldwide heat their homes, take public transportation, and power industrial factories. These events involving electricity are certainly not rare. In fact, these things are so common that many of us don’t even bat our eyes at how much energy we are using. However, considering the origins of the crude oil, natural gas, and coal we use for these purposes may make us more interested in how our energy is produced. Fossil fuels are just as the name implies; fossils that fuel our needs. They are biological energy reserves that become fossilized over long durations to produce energy in the form of oil, coal, and gas (Huber, 2009). Essentially, humans dig up this biomass for many energy-requiring purposes. This is because organic matter in the soil contains important elements such as nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, sulfur, and oxygen, all of which are useful for creating resources. If you’re a huge fan of dinosaurs, then yes, we use decayed dinosaur matter as well.
What makes fossil fuels so interesting is that they continue the cycle of life. Instead of organic matter simply disappearing in the depths of the Earth’s crust, they are reused by us, and in some form, contributing to our quality of life. This organic material is very resourceful such that it produces the gas that allows our vehicles to run and the coal that people burn to produce energy. Fossil fuels serve our everyday needs to such an extent that it becomes difficult to imagine a life without them. The abundance and cheapness of fossil fuels are major advantages that drive countries to instill laws that permit the use of these fuels (Helm, 2016). Given that they are already present in the soil and we do not have to make them, they are essentially providing use with free energy. The amount of biomass in the ground is so vast that it would almost seem crazy if we did not use it.
Using fossil fuels sounds perfect: we dig up the ground for resources and these resources help us live happily at a low cost. However, this process has flaws. According to Banday and Aneja (2019), fossil fuel usage has some negative implications through the contribution of global warming, the decline of agricultural yield, and potential danger to human health. The use of fossil fuels emits severe amounts of pollution, damaging the environment by contributing to global warming (Gao et al., 2019). Greenhouse gases that damage the ozone layer are released during the combustion of fossil fuels. You can even see this pollution as you drive by a factory and white smoke is coming from the top. This pollution released from factories and vehicle engines also pose as a danger to human health, given that it becomes a part of the air we inhale. Furthermore, what happens when the rate at which we are using fossil fuels is much greater than the rate at which organisms die and decompose? Scenarios like this will lead to the over-exploitation of organic resources and the balance of the world will be disturbed such that there is not enough nutrients and elements in the ground.
Why is this relevant to you? First of all, it is critical that we are informed about what is happening around us. This is the world we live in; therefore, it is our responsibility to take care of it. As young scientists, hopefully one day we can contribute to finding a solution that solves the downfalls of using fossil fuels. Although using fossil fuels may not stop in the near future, it can be used less often to alleviate some of the environmental stress that comes along with it. Or, a better alternative to fossil fuels can be used such as renewable power sources solar and wind power.
References
Banday, J., Aneja, R. (2019). Energy consumption, economic growth and CO2 emissions: evidence from G7 countries. World journal of science technology and sustainable development, 16, 22-39. doi: 10.1108/WJSTSD-01-2018-0007
Gao, M., Wang, D., Wang, H., Wang, X., Feng, Y. (2019). Biogas potential, utilization and countermeasures in agricultural provinces: A case study of biogas development in Henan Province, China. Renewable & sustainable energy reviews, 99, 191-200. doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2018.10.005
Helm, D. (2016). The future of fossil fuels – is it the end? Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 32, 191–205. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxrep/grw015
Huber, M. (2009). Energizing historical materialism: fossil fuel, space and the capitalist mode of production. Geoforum, 40, 105-115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2008.08.004
https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions