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TheEnergyStoryChapter8:FossilFuelsCoal,OilandNaturalGas

TableofContent

Introduction
Chapter1:
EnergyWhatIsIt?
Chapter2:
Electricity
Chapter3:
StaticElectricity&Resistance
Chapter4:
ElectricalCircuits
Chapter5:
StoredEnergy&Batteries
Chapter6:
Generators,Turbinesand
PowerPlants
Chapter7:
ElectricityTransmissionSystem
Chapter8:
FossilFuelsCoal,Oiland
NaturalGas
Chapter9:
NaturalGasDistributionSystem
Chapter10: BiomassEnergy
Chapter11: GeothermalEnergy
Chapter12: HydroPower
Chapter13: NuclearEnergyFissionand
Fusion
Chapter14: OceanEnergy
Chapter15: SolarEnergy
Chapter16: WindEnergy
Chapter17: Renewablevs.Nonrenewable
Environment&AirQuality
Chapter18: EnergyforTransportation
Chapter19: SavingEnergyandEnergy
Efficiency
Chapter20: HydrogenandEnergyInOur
Future
Conclusion

Chapter8:FossilFuelsCoal,OilandNaturalGas
WhereFossilFuelsComeFrom
Therearethreemajorformsoffossilfuels:coal,oilandnaturalgas.Allthree
wereformedmanyhundredsofmillionsofyearsagobeforethetimeofthe
dinosaurshencethenamefossilfuels.Theagetheywereformediscalled
theCarboniferousPeriod.ItwaspartofthePaleozoicEra."Carboniferous"
getsitsnamefromcarbon,thebasicelementincoalandotherfossilfuels.
TheCarboniferousPeriod
occurredfromabout360to
286millionyearsago.Atthe
time,thelandwascovered
withswampsfilledwithhuge
trees,fernsandotherlarge
leafyplants,similartothe
pictureabove.Thewaterand
seaswerefilledwithalgae
thegreenstuffthatformson
astagnantpoolofwater.
Algaeisactuallymillionsof
verysmallplants.
Somedepositsofcoalcanbefoundduringthetimeofthedinosaurs.For
example,thincarbonlayerscanbefoundduringthelateCretaceousPeriod
(65millionyearsago)thetimeofTyrannosaurusRex.Butthemaindeposits
offossilfuelsarefromtheCarboniferousPeriod.Formoreaboutthevarious
geologiceras,gotowww.ucmp.berkeley.edu/help/timeform.html
Asthetreesandplantsdied,theysanktothebottomoftheswampsof
oceans.Theyformedlayersofaspongymaterialcalledpeat.Overmany
hundredsofyears,thepeatwascoveredbysandandclayandotherminerals,
whichturnedintoatypeofrockcalledsedimentary.
Moreandmorerockpiledontopofmorerock,anditweighedmoreand
more.Itbegantopressdownonthepeat.Thepeatwassqueezedand
squeezeduntilthewatercameoutofitanditeventually,overmillionsof
years,itturnedintocoal,oilorpetroleum,andnaturalgas.

Coal
Coalisahard,blackcoloredrocklike
substance.Itismadeupofcarbon,
hydrogen,oxygen,nitrogenandvarying
amountsofsulphur.Therearethreemain
typesofcoalanthracite,bituminousand
lignite.Anthracitecoalisthehardestand
hasmorecarbon,whichgivesitahigher
energycontent.Ligniteisthesoftestandis
lowincarbonbuthighinhydrogenand
oxygencontent.Bituminousisinbetween.
Today,theprecursortocoalpeatisstillfoundinmanycountriesandis
alsousedasanenergysource.
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TheearliestknownuseofcoalwasinChina.CoalfromtheFushunminein

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TheearliestknownuseofcoalwasinChina.CoalfromtheFushunminein
northeasternChinamayhavebeenusedtosmeltcopperasearlyas3,000
yearsago.TheChinesethoughtcoalwasastonethatcouldburn.
Coalisfoundinmanyofthelower48statesofU.S.and
circuitexperiment
throughouttherestoftheworld.Coalisminedoutof
thegroundusingvariousmethods.Somecoalminesaredugbysinking
verticalorhorizontalshaftsdeepunderground,andcoalminerstravelby
elevatorsortrainsdeepundergroundtodigthecoal.Othercoalisminedin
stripmineswherehugesteamshovelsstripawaythetoplayersabovethe
coal.Thelayersarethenrestoredafterthecoalistakenaway.
Thecoalisthenshippedbytrainandboatsandeveninpipelines.In
pipelines,thecoalisgroundupandmixedwithwatertomakewhat'scalleda
slurry.Thisisthenpumpedmanymilesthroughpipelines.Attheotherend,
thecoalisusedtofuelpowerplantsandotherfactories.

OilorPetroleum
Oilisanotherfossil
fuel.Itwasalso
formedmorethan
300millionyears
ago.Somescientists
saythattinydiatoms
arethesourceofoil.
Diatomsaresea
creaturesthesizeof
apinhead.Theydo
onethingjustlike
plantstheycan
convertsunlight
directlyintostored
energy.
Inthegraphicon
theleft,asthediatomsdiedtheyfelltotheseafloor(1).Heretheywere
buriedundersedimentandotherrock(2).Therocksqueezedthediatomsand
theenergyintheirbodiescouldnotescape.Thecarboneventuallyturned
intooilundergreatpressureandheat.Astheearthchangedandmovedand
folded,pocketswhereoilandnaturalgascanbefoundwereformed(3).
Oilhasbeenusedformorethan5,0006,000years.TheancientSumerians,
AssyriansandBabyloniansusedcrudeoilandasphalt("pitch")collectedfrom
largeseepsatTuttul(moderndayHit)ontheEuphratesRiver.Aseepisa
placeonthegroundwheretheoilleaksupfrombelowground.Theancient
Egyptians,usedliquidoilasamedicineforwounds,andoilhasbeenusedin
lampstoprovidelight.
TheDeadSea,nearthemodernCountryofIsrael,usedtobecalledLake
Asphaltites.Thewordasphaltwasderivedisfromthattermbecauseofthe
lumpsofgooeypetroleumthatwerewasheduponthelakeshoresfrom
underwaterseeps.
InNorthAmerica,NativeAmericansusedblanketstoskimoiloffthesurfaceof
streamsandlakes.Theyusedoilasmedicineandtomakecanoeswaterproof.
DuringtheRevolutionaryWar,NativeAmericanstaughtGeorgeWashington's
troopshowtotreatfrostbitewithoil.
Asourcountrygrew,thedemandforoilcontinuedtoincreaseasafuelfor
lamps.Petroleumoilbegantoreplacewhaleoilinlampsbecausethepricefor
whaleoilwasveryhigh.Duringthistime,mostpetroleumoilcamefrom
distillingcoalintoaliquidorbyskimmingitoffoflakesjustastheNative
Americansdid.
ThenonAugust27,1859,EdwinL.Drake(themanstandingontherightin
theblackandwhitepicturetotheright),struckliquidoilathiswellnear
Titusville,Pennsylvania.Hefoundoilundergroundandawaythatcould
pumpittothesurface.Thewellpumpedtheoilintobarrelsmadeoutof
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wood.Thismethodofdrillingforoilisstillbeing

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wood.Thismethodofdrillingforoilisstillbeing
usedtodayallovertheworldinareaswhereoil
canbefoundbelowthesurface.
Oil
and

naturalgasarefoundundergroundbetween
foldsofrockandinareasofrockthatareporousandcontaintheoilswithin
therockitself.Thefoldsofrockwereformedastheearthshiftsandmoves.
It'ssimilartohowasmall,throwcarpetwillbunchupinplacesonthefloor.
Tofindoilandnaturalgas,companiesdrillthroughtheearthtothedeposits
deepbelowthesurface.Theoilandnaturalgasarethenpumpedfrombelow
thegroundbyoilrigs(likeinthepicture).Theythenusuallytravelthrough
pipelinesorbyship.
Oilisfoundin18ofthe58
countiesinCalifornia.Kern
County,theCountywhere
Bakersfieldisfound,isoneof
thelargestoilproduction
placesinthecountry.Butwe
onlygetonehalfofouroil
fromCaliforniawells.Therest
comesfromAlaska,andan
increasingamountcomes
fromothercountries.Inthe
entireU.S.,morethan50
percentofalltheoilweuse
comesfromoutsidethe
country...mostofitfromthe
MiddleEast.
OilisbroughttoCaliforniabylargetankerships.Thepetroleumorcrudeoil
mustbechangedorrefinedintootherproductsbeforeitcanbeused.

Refineries

Oilisstoredinlargetanksuntilitissenttovariousplacestobeused.Atoil
refineries,crudeoilissplitintovarioustypesofproductsbyheatingthethick
blackoil.
Oilismadeintomanydifferentproductsfertilizersforfarms,theclothesyou
wear,thetoothbrushyouuse,theplasticbottlethatholdsyourmilk,the
plasticpenthatyouwritewith.Theyallcamefromoil.Therearethousandsof
otherproductsthatcomefromoil.Almostallplasticcomesoriginallyfromoil.
Canyouthinkofsomeotherthingsmadefromoil?
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Theproductsincludegasoline,dieselfuel,aviationorjetfuel,homeheating
oil,oilforshipsandoiltoburninpowerplantstomakeelectricity.Here's
whatabarrelofcrudeoilcanmake.
InCalifornia,74percentofouroilisusedfortransportationcars,planes,
trucks,busesandmotorcycles.We'lllearnmoreabouttransportationenergy
inChapter18.

NaturalGas
Sometimebetween6,000to2,000yearsBCE(BeforetheCommonEra),the
firstdiscoveriesofnaturalgasseepsweremadeinIran.Manyearlywriters
describedthenaturalpetroleumseepsintheMiddleEast,especiallyinthe
BakuregionofwhatisnowAzerbaijan.Thegasseeps,probablyfirstignited
bylightning,providedthefuelforthe"eternalfires"ofthefireworshiping
religionoftheancientPersians.
Naturalgasislighterthanair.Naturalgasismostlymadeupofagascalled
methane.Methaneisasimplechemicalcompoundthatismadeupofcarbon
andhydrogenatoms.It'schemicalformulaisCH4oneatomofcarbon
alongwithfouratomshydrogen.Thisgasishighlyflammable.
Naturalgasisusuallyfoundnearpetroleumunderground.Itispumpedfrom
belowgroundandtravelsinpipelinestostorageareas.Thenextchapterlooks
atthatpipelinesystem.
Naturalgasusuallyhasnoodorandyoucan'tseeit.Beforeitissenttothe
pipelinesandstoragetanks,itismixedwithachemicalthatgivesastrong
odor.Theodorsmellsalmostlikerotteneggs.Theodormakesiteasytosmell
ifthereisaleak.

EnergySafetyNote!
Ifyousmellthatrotteneggsmellinyourhouse,
tellyourfolksandgetoutofthehousequickly.
Don'tturnonanylightsorotherelectrical
devices.Asparkfromalightswitchcanignitethe
gasveryeasily.Gotoaneighbor'shouseandcall
911foremergencyhelp.

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SavingFossilFuels
Fossilfuelstakemillionsofyearstomake.Weareusingupthefuelsthatwere
mademorethan300millionyearsagobeforethetimeofthedinosaurs.Once
theyaregonetheyaregone.
So,it'sbesttonotwastefossilfuels.Theyarenotrenewabletheycan'treally
bemadeagain.Wecansavefossilfuelsbyconservingenergy.

InthenextchapterreadaboutNaturalGasDistributionSystem.

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