FOSSIL FUELS
S.3 Term III 2024
BY NDUGGA HENRY KANGAVVE
Bsc(Muni)
nduggahenry6@[Link] 0785917105/0754972907
[Link]
Questions??
1. What are fossils?
2. What are fuels?
Cont…
• Fossils are geologically altered remains of a once-living organism
• A fuel is a substance consumed to provide energy through combustion
or chemical reaction or nuclear reaction.
• Fossil fuels are fuels that were formed as a result of a gradual
decomposition/ decay of the remains of plants and animals that lived
millions of years ago.
• Or these are natural substances formed from anaerobic decay of dead
plants and animals that lived millions of years ago and are used as a
source of fuel.
What are fossil fuels?
• Fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material of biological origin
that can be burned for energy. All contain carbon and were formed as
a result of geologic processes acting on the remains of organic matter
Cont…
• What are Fossil Fuels?
• Fossil fuels are buried flammable geologic deposits of organic
substances such as dead plants and animals that got deposited under
several thousand feet of silt. These deposits decayed with the passage
of time and got converted to natural gas, coal and petroleum due to
the extreme heat and pressure inside the earth’s crust. They are also
known as non-renewable sources of energy as it takes a very long
time for it to replenish.
Types, Formation and Uses of Fossil Fuels
Fossil fuels are of the following types:
• Coal
• Petroleum
• Natural gas
Cont…..
• These fossil fuels differ in the way they were formed. However, they
have many physical and chemical properties in common.
All are;
(1) natural resources
(2) sources of energy and
(3) non-renewable.
Uganda has large deposits of fossil fuels especially crude oil and natural
gas.
N.B. Coal is not found in Uganda.
Renewable vs Non renewable
energy
• Natural resources can be grouped into two groups:
Renewable and
Non-renewable.
• Renewable resources will naturally replenish themselves over time, like
wind, solar, plants, trees, H.E.P etc.
• Non-renewable will be gone forever once used, like coal, fuel, etc.
1. COAL
• Coal
• It is a hard, black coloured substance made up of carbon, hydrogen,
nitrogen, oxygen and sulphur.
• The major types of coal are- anthracite, bituminous and lignite.
• Anthracite has a higher carbon concentration and is the hardest type of coal.
• Lignite has a high concentration of oxygen and hydrogen but a low
concentration of carbon.
• Bituminous is a moderate form of coal.
• Coal is processed industrially to obtain derivatives like coke, coal tar and
coal gas.
Types of coal
Formation of Coal
• The process of formation of coal is known as coalification.
• The dense forest present in the low-lying wetland got buried in the
earth, millions of years ago.
• Soil kept depositing over them and they got compressed.
• As they went deeper and deeper, they faced high temperature and
pressure.
• As a result, the substances slowly got converted into coal.
Uses of Coal
• Coal was used to produce steam in the railway engines initially.
• It is used to cook food.
• It is used to generate electricity in thermal plants.
• It is used in industries as fuel.
Petroleum
• What is petroleum
Petroleum
• It is a clear, oily liquid, usually green or black in colour.
• It has a very strange smell and is a mixture of petroleum gas, diesel,
paraffin wax, petrol, lubricating oil, etc.
• It is also termed as “Black Gold” because of its wide range of uses in
many industries.
Formation of Petroleum
• The sea animals and plants died and their bodies settled at the
bottom of the sea.
• They got compressed by the layers of sand and clay.
• Their encounter with high temperature and pressure converts them
into petroleum.
• The petroleum is separated from the crude oil by a series of processes
in a refinery. This is known as petroleum refining.
Uses of Petroleum
• It is used to power internal combustion engines in the form of petrol
and other forms e.g Gasoline, diesel, jet fuel.
• Used as a lubricant in form of oil.
• It is used in roofing, road pavements and as a water repellent.
• It is used in manufacturing detergents, plastics, fibres, polyethene,
etc.
Natural gas
• What is natural gas?
Natural gas is a hydrocarbon mixture consisting primarily of saturated
light paraffins such as methane (95%) and ethane, both of which are
gaseous under atmospheric conditions. The mixture also may contain
other hydrocarbons, such as propane, butane, pentane, and hexane
Continuation of natural gas
• It is a clean and non-toxic fossil fuel.
• It is colourless and odourless and can be easily transferred through
pipelines.
• It is stored as compressed natural gas (CNG) under high pressure.
• It is a less polluting and less expensive fossil fuel.
• Methane is the most important natural gas.
Formation of Natural Gas
• The phytoplankton and zooplankton sink to the bottom of the ocean
and mix with organic materials to form an organic-rich mud.
• The mud buried under more sediments and lithifies to form an
organic shale. This prevents its exposure to oxygen. This is done to
protect the organic materials from being decomposed by bacteria.
• The increasing pressure and temperature transform the shale into a
waxy material known as the kerogen.
• At temperatures between 90-160°C kerogen is transformed into
natural gas.
Uses of Natural gas
• Compressed Natural Gas is used for generating power.
• It is used as fuels in automobiles.
• It can be used at homes for cooking.
• It is used as a starting material in chemicals and fertilizers.
How Are Fossil Fuels Extracted?
• There are two main methods for extracting fossil fuels from the ground.
These are;
(1) Mining
(2) Drilling.
Fossil fuels are obtained from the earth by mining and drilling.
Mining is the extraction of solid fossil fuels from the earth. For example,
coal is extracted by digging underground or scrapping from the surface.
Drilling is a cutting process in which a drill bit is used to cut or enlarge a
circular hole in a solid material. Crude oil and natural gas can easily be
forced to flow to the surface using drilling method.
Why Are Fossil Fuels Used as
Sources of Energy?
This is because of their ability to release a lot of energy when burned.
Fossil fuels are cheap and easy to use.
Why Are Fossil Fuels Described as
Non-Renewable?
• This is because they cannot be regenerated or produced any natural
process.
• The formation of fossil fuels happened millions of year ago and such
process may not happen again in the near future. In other words, fossil
fuels are described as non-renewable natural resources because they
cannot easily be replaced. Fossil fuels take a long time to be formed or
renewed.
• There is need for sustainable use of these fuels. Sustainability means
using a resource to meet our own current needs without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
