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Energy from Organic Fuels. F4 Problems with Fossil Fuels. Problems with Fossil Fuels. There are many problems associated with the increasing use of fossil fuels. Scientists are looking into developing fuels from other organic sources.
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Energy from Organic Fuels F4 Problems with Fossil Fuels
Problems with Fossil Fuels • There are many problems associated with the increasing use of fossil fuels. • Scientists are looking into developing fuels from otherorganic sources. • Alternative fuels can solve some, but not all, of the problems of using fossil fuels
Problems with Fossil Fuels • Availability • Fossil fuels are not renewable • All the coal, oil, and natural gas that will ever be available to humans is already formed • Cannot always depend on the deposits of oil that are already known to exist • For many nations, oil deposits are not always located in the same country that needs the fuel • In 199I, the Persian Gulf War reminded many Americans of the need to reduce their dependence on imported oil
Problems with Fossil Fuels • Have to keep looking deeper beneath Earth's surface and exploring farther into natural areas to find more • Coastal states are constantly addressing the question of whether or not to explore for oil offshore • Wherever exploration for fossil fuels takes place, there is a risk of environmentaldamage • Oil spills • Other forms of habitat alteration
Problems with Fossil Fuels • Pollution • Air pollution • Burning fossil fuels releases carbondioxide • The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution has increased by more than 20 percent • Many scientists think that this increase in carbon dioxide could raise the temperature of Earth through a process called the greenhouse effect
Problems with Fossil Fuels • Pollution • Water and Land pollution • Leading source of water pollution • The production and transport of fossil fuels results in routine pollution of the environment • Results in occasional catastrophic accidents
Problems with Fossil Fuels • Pollution • The December 2008 collapse of a coal ash pond outside a Tennessee Valley Authority power plant covered 300 acres in sludge and will cost an estimated $825 million to clean up
Problems with Fossil Fuels • Pollution • Between 1990 and 2006, 51 large oil spills in the United States alone that resulted in the expenditure of between $860 million and $1.1 billion in removal costs and compensation for damages • 1989 Exxon Valdez in Alaska • 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico • 2013 North Dakota oil spill • In 2013 there were 291 oils spills in ND • 22,600 barrels • 42 gallons = • 949,000 gallons
Problems with Fossil Fuels • Dangerous • Natural gas is extremely combustible, so obtaining it can often be hazardous • Danger created by natural gas combustion also exists when mining for other fossil fuels • Coal miners can die of suffocation by natural gas • Miners have also perished from explosions of natural gas and coal dust.
Section Review • Complete the questions in the section review