Fossil fuels and environmental degradation

The compounds known as fossil fuels are the most widely used sources of energy production throughout the world and have become an integral part of human activity in modern society. The use of such fuels, however, is the cause of significant environmental degradation through air and water pollution and habitat destruction. The carbon dioxide emitted by the burning of fossil fuels has been linked to global warming.

Fossil fuels—coal, oil, and natural gas—are found in the earth's crust. They are the result of the decomposition of the remains of dead plants and animals under heat and pressure as they were covered with sediment, becoming part of the earth's crust, as either landmass or seabed. These fuels are nonrenewable resources; they have required millions of years to form.

Fossil fuels are composed of high percentages of carbon and hydrocarbons, and the ratio of carbon to hydrogen varies considerably from one type of fossil fuel to another. A gas such as methane has a low ratio and burns quickly, whereas a substance such as anthracite coal, composed almost entirely of carbon, has a lower ratio and burns more slowly. When burned, all fossil fuels produce large amounts of energy, and this characteristic led them to play a significant role in the industrialization and modernization of the world. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), in 2023 fossil fuels had continued to account for around 80 percent of the primary energy produced worldwide. Although fossil fuels are capable of meeting the world's energy production needs, they are a diminishing resource, and their extraction and use cause considerable environmental problems.

The major concern in regard to the use of fossil fuels is their emission of carbon dioxide (CO₂), one of the greenhouse gases that has been linked to global warming. According to the US Department of Energy, the burning of fossil fuels produces almost twice as much CO₂ as natural processes can absorb each year.

Coal and Effects on the Environment

The three types of coal—anthracite, bituminous, and lignite—are retrieved either by deep-shaft underground mining or by opencast (surface) mining. Both types of mining cause considerable damage to the area mined, as they destroy land and pollute air and rivers. The pollution from lignite mining is particularly harmful to forests.

When coal is burned it emits several harmful substances, including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury, particulates, and carbon dioxide. Sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and particulates contribute to the formation of acid rain, which can cause respiratory illness. Mercury that enters rivers, streams, or lakes combines into the chemical methylmercury. It is highly toxic to water plants, to fish, and to animals and people who consume the fish. It is, however, the CO₂ produced by the burning of coal that is of the greatest environmental concern. CO₂ is the major pollutant that causes global warming, and burning of coal (including in coal-fired power plants) is the single largest source of CO₂ released into the air. The transport of coal further contributes to the release of pollutants into the air. Although some coal is transported as slurry through pipelines, the majority of coal is transported by train using diesel-fueled locomotives, which in turn emit more CO₂ and other pollutants.

Environmental Impacts of Oil

Crude oil or petroleum is composed of hydrogen and carbon compounds. It is a liquid form of fossilized biomass derived from the decomposition of dead plants and animals found in underground reservoirs in sedimentary basins on land areas and in seabeds. Oil is extracted from the earth by pumping, using wells and oil rigs, and it is transported long distances through pipelines or in ships. The major danger to the environment from these activities is the occurrence of oil spills, which have serious impacts on wildlife, especially marine life, seabirds, and sea mammals. Some previously inaccessible oil reserves are extracted through a process known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking, which carries further environmental risks such as contamination of groundwater.

Gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, and liquid propane gas are all derived from oil. It is also the feedstock or raw material from which plastics, polyurethane, and many other products are made. Oil plays a vital role in the everyday life of the modern world. Gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel are the most commonly used sources of energy in transportation. Gasoline is the primary fuel used in private cars; diesel fuel is used in freight trucks, in train engines, and in such heavy equipment as construction and farm vehicles. Diesel is also the fuel of choice for other kinds of machinery used in agriculture and construction. The generators used to provide electricity to such facilities as hospitals and nursing homes in times of emergency are usually powered by diesel fuel. Propane, which is a cleaner-burning fuel than either gasoline or diesel, is used in indoor equipment.

Oil's greatest impacts on the environment come from its use as fuel. When oil is burned in any of its forms, it emits several harmful substances into the atmosphere. These include CO₂, carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur, and lead. Lead in particulate matter is classified as a carcinogen. Sulfur dioxide contributes to the formation of acid rain, which is harmful to animals, plants, and human beings. The nitrogen oxide and volatile organic compounds found in emissions from the burning of oil are among the causes of ground-level ozone. Many of these pollutants contribute to lung irritation, asthma, bronchitis, and lung disease.

Environmental Impacts of Natural Gas

Natural gas is composed of hydrogen and carbon; it is primarily methane. Like coal and oil, natural gas is formed over millions of years from the decomposing remains of plants and animals covered by sand and silt and subjected to heat and pressure. Deposits of natural gas are found in both landmasses and seabeds. Extraction of the gas, achieved through drilling and the establishment of wells, has impacts on the wildlife in the area of the drilling through the disruption of habitat. It can also harm people living in the area, as in cases in which chemicals used in the fracking process leach into drinking water supplies.

Natural gas is typically transported by pipelines to refineries. At both drilling sites and along the pipelines, leaks can occur that can result in serious explosions. Gas distribution systems in cities and towns also often have significant leaks that not only cause inefficiency and waste but also can prove harmful to public health.

Natural gas has many uses. It is used to generate electricity, as a fuel in industry, and for heating homes and powering home appliances. Natural gas also serves as a raw material for producing a wide variety of products ranging from fertilizers to medicines. When burned, natural gas emits fewer pollutants, especially sulfur and nitrogen, than either oil or coal. It does, however, produce CO₂.

Efforts to Reduce Negative Impacts

Fossil fuels have continued to play an important role in all major areas of the world's economy. By the 2020s, generation of electricity, transportation, construction, and food production all remained highly dependent on the use of fossil fuels despite efforts to develop and implement cleaner energy. Governments around the world and the fossil-fuel industries have remained involved in ongoing efforts to combat the adverse effects of fossil fuels on the environment. Both by passing legislation within their own borders, such as the Clean Air Act in the United States, and by entering into international agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, governments have set limits on the amounts of pollutants that may be emitted from fossil fuels and have set targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Due to political and economic pressure, the fossil-fuel industries have made some attempts to reduce the negative impacts of fossil fuels on the environment through research and new technology, as well as habitat reclamation programs.

Because coal-fired power plants are the greatest emitters of CO₂, the primary greenhouse gas, environmental organizations and citizens' groups in several countries have argued for the total elimination of coal mining and of the use of coal as a fuel. These efforts, combined with the availability of cheaper natural gas, contributed to relatively sharp declines in coal use in the United States and many other developed countries in the early twenty-first century. However, by the early 2020s, demand for coal remained strong, or even grew in a few markets, and as coal demand decreased, demand for oil and gas increased.

Meanwhile, the coal industry responded to stricter regulations with efforts to develop technologies aimed at reducing CO₂ emissions from the burning of coal and improving mining techniques to reduce adverse effects on land and communities in the areas where coal is mined. The reclamation of land at strip mines is one of these efforts. The technique of extracting coal through underground coal gasification has also been investigated as a more environmentally friendly process; however, it may cause contamination of underground water supplies in onshore locations and the collapse of the burned-out coal seams both on- and offshore. Coal-fired power plants using a technology known as integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) have also been introduced; IGCC plants convert coal into a synthetic gas before it is used to generate electricity. These plants have the capability of reducing pollutant emissions significantly, including the capture and separation of up to 95 percent of CO₂, which is then stored underground.

Other technologies and procedures implemented by the oil and gas industries to reduce the negative effects of their products on the environment have included horizontal drilling techniques that can increase the area from which oil or gas can be extracted from one well. Reducing the number of wells drilled reduces the impacts on habitat and wildlife. In addition, the oil and gas industries have used double-hulled tankers and double-lined pipelines to help reduce oil spills. In response to governmental mandates, oil companies have funded research that has resulted in the reformulation of gasoline and diesel fuels to reduce the emissions they produce.

While such efforts help reduce the risk of immediate environmental harm, critics have noted that they allow the extraction and burning of more fossil fuels, which ultimately causes long-term environmental degradation through global warming and climate change. As atmospheric CO₂ rose steadily, many environmentalists suggested that the only way to truly protect the environment remained to drastically scale back, or even eliminate, all fossil fuel use. Growth in alternative energy sources, particularly renewables such as solar power and wind power, as well as improvement in energy efficiency, continued to be widely seen as crucial to a sustainable future. However, supporters of fossil fuels have contended that economic reality means that these traditional energy sources would remain important as long as they were available.

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