• Back to Front Page
• Fossil fuels
• Carbon Sequestration

carbon sequestration	Coal mine in Wyoming

Fossil fuels

Organic material is the origin of fossil fuels. Huge amounts of both plant and animal remains settle to the bottom of the oceans where the immense pressure converts this organic matter into hydrocarbons, in both both liquid and gaseous forms, is an process known as catagenesis. Coal is formed where the bulk of the organic material is comprised of plant remains. Gas is formed where the bulk of the organic material comprises of animal remains. The majority of our fossil fuels were formed in the Carboniferous era.

When fossil fuels are burnt a large amount of energy is released and the availability of this energy resulted in the Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom, soon followed in other parts of the world.

Unfortunately burning fossil fuels and allowing the resulting smoke, carbon and particles into the atmosphere has potential health hazards and contributes to global warming!

Coal mine in India	jack pumps in Cuba

New technology will allow carbon capture devices to be used to stop most of the harmful gases from getting into the atmosphere. We still have the problem of safely storing these harmful chemicals although it looks carbon sequestration technologies have the potential to be able to do this.

Although carbon capture mechanisms are in their infancy, a trial at the Longannet power station on the Firth of Forth has resulted in the 'captured' carbon dioxide being held in liquid form ready for long-term storage.

If this technology is successful, then coal fired stations around the world can be safely used to generate the electricity we need. This would appear to resolve the issues of how we deal with the storage of these dangerous chemicals.