Endangered Energy: Investigating the Scarcity of Fossil Fuels
CHAPTER 1 The World Runs on Energy Lights cars and buses all require energy to run Cars and buses run on energy Energy keeps homes businesses and schools warm in the winter and cool in the summer Energy is used to create and transport goods such as food and clothing Energy is used everywhere Imagine a world without it
When energy is stored in objects it is called fuel When the fuel is burned it gives energy Oil coal and natural gas are all fossil fuels Fossil fuels are the most widely used sources of energy in the world In the United States more than 90 percent of the energy used comes from fossil fuels But fossil fuels will one day run out Electronics including video games use fossil fuels for power The oil and gas in vehicles allow travel from one place to another Homes and schools may use natural gas for heating and cooking The electricity that powers TV and video games often comes from coal The uses for fossil fuels are endless People have come to depend on these uses for fossil fuels People have used so much fossil fuels that they are in danger of running out Within the next one or two centuries some scientists believe that fossil fuels could be gone People will be forced to find new sources of energy And the use of fossil fuels has damaged the environment Air is polluted Temperatures are rising All living beings are at risk energy the ability to do work such as moving things or giving heat or light fossil fuel natural fuel formed from the remains of plants and animals coal oil and natural gas are fossil fuels
CHAPTER 2 Meet the Fossil Fuels Heat and pressure inside of the Earth Coal natural gas and oil were formed deep inside Earth helped transform millions of years ago They are called fossil fuels because they decaying plants and were formed from the remains of plants and animals that lived animals into fossil fuels long ago Forming Fossil Fuels About 300 million years ago Earth was mostly covered with swamps When plants and animals died their remains sank to the bottom of the swamps Over time mud sand and rock piled on top of the remains After millions of years heat and pressure inside Earth caused the remains to change into oil natural gas coal or
The energy stored in fossil fuels originally came from the sun Plants capture the sun's energy during photosynthesis Animals eat plants and other animals Some of this energy remained in the plants and animals when they died and were buried When fossil fuels are burned today that energy is released photosynthesis the process by which plants make food using sunlight carbon dioxide and water How Fossil Fuels Form Hundreds of millions of years ago the Earth was mostly covered with forests and swamps Dead plant and animal matter became covered with mud sand and rock Over time heat and pressure inside the Earth caused fossil fuels to form Today fossil fuels are mined from deep within the Earth
