Fossil Fuel Redefined - Term Paper Example

Fossil Fuels Redefined Introduction Fossil fuels are formed by hydrocarbons predominantly coal. Natural gas, coal and oil are different forms of fossil fuels. These are formed by the remains of plant and animals. In reality, the fossil fuels also comprise of hydro – carbon containing natural resources which are not derived from plant or animal sources. These are called mineral fuels. The fossil fuels are developed within millions of years and are getting depleted every minute. Whatever, the world has achieved is due to fossil fuels and the large – scale industrial development was due to the use of coal, oil and natural gas. Fossil fuel is a general term for combustible geologic deposit of organic material buried under earth. The fossil is converted to crude oil, coal, natural gas, or heavy oil by getting exposed to heat and pressure in the earth’s crust over millions of years. The three major forms of fossil fuels are coal, natural gas and oil. The carboniferous period spanned from 360 to 286 million years then the land was covered by swamps, huge trees, and algae and as they died they sank into deepest part of earth and with exposure to heat for long years compressed to form fossil. Now fossil fuels have become an industry to produce billions of dollars and people are greedy to earn more and more exploiting earth. Fossil fuel is not an eternal natural resource and people need to be more eco – friendly and think of alternative fuel source. How fossils fuels are formed Fossils are the remains found in earth which are millions or trillions years older. When plants, animals and other organisms die and they decay entirely but when the conditions are different they get preserved as fossils. Several chemical and physical processes are involved in fossil formation .Freezing, dying, encasement and where the body of animal or plant is encased in tar or resin can retain the bodily tissue and this can be rare. The fossils are usually formed due to being buried in sediments and get exposed to pressure and heat. The sources of the organic sediment that became fossil fuels are mostly plants and marine life that lived millions of years ago. The phytoplankton, or algae is the main organisms which forms fossil fuel ( Schott) . Fossil fuels form the basis of every activity in this world and all technology and industry need them in some way or another. Fossil fuels are used for vehicles, planes, power electricity plants and households. Even they are used in medicine, cosmetics, plastics, lubricants and synthetic fabrics. However the use of fossil fuel is a threat to climate and is resulting in global warming issues. So the fossil fuel needs to be replaced by other alternative energy like solar energy system. The industrial sector need highly efficient fuel and they need it but the households can switch to solar energy as their consumption is minimal. Solar panel for household In households, the fuel is used mainly for electricity supply and their consumption is minimal in comparison to industrial field. To correct climate crisis, the percentage of fossil fuel used by the world need to minimized to a certain level. We cannot completely avoid fossil fuel as industrial sector need it but households can use solar panels for their daily needs. According to (Toothman ) “The hope for a "solar revolution" has been floating around for decades -- the idea that one day well all use free electricity fro­m the sun. This is a seductive promise, because on a bright, sunny day, the suns rays give off approximately 1,000 watts of energy per square meter of the planets surface”. Solar power is an eco – friendly source of fuel but it is not as efficient as fossil fuel. So it is not a practical solution for industries and automobiles. The solar energy being a free alternative fuel source also has its limitation. The cost of building the collectors and equipment required converting this energy into electricity or hot water is huge. So for industrial supply solar energy is not a good option. However, all the equipments related to solar energy like the solar panels, cells and collectors can be easily affordable by householders as it benefit them on long run. As per (Layton) “The benefits of residential solar power are obvious: Energy from the sun is endless (at least for the next 5 billion years, give or take); it provides clean energy with no greenhouse-gas emissions; and it can save people money on their electric bills”. Fossil fuel is a market which is monopolized and the consumer and producer are tuned to favor fossil fuels. However, there need to be some changes to this pattern of fossil fuel consumption. The industries can continue to consume fossil fuel as they need it for their working. However the households can survive without fossil fuels. They can use solar energy in an effective manner and thus solar panel is the best option. The unfortunate thing is that there is no market for solar panels as all use fossil fuel. So the people need to make a change in their fuel option. If the household opt to use solar panels then there would be demand for it in the market. A new customer potential needs to be raised for solar panels. There are some changes in the solar power market but still there need to be progress. As per ( Goossens ) “Demand for U.S. solar power increased 41 percent last year driven by record growth in residential projects, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association”. So if more and more people use solar panels and get off away fossil fuels then there can be large market for solar energy .The politics behind fossil fuel industry will never allow alternative fuel to be in use, so people need to make changes, so that the demand for solar energy is created. Thus in future, the solar power can be a consumer driven market which can ease the use of fossil fuel and climatic crisis related to it. Fossil fuel business The fossil fuel is so important that they determine the currency value and economic stability of whole world. The fossil fuel like petrol, diesel and natural gas is traded in dollars and the stability of stock market of whole world depends on it. The fossil fuels make up 80% of global energy and the money involved in it is humongous. There is lot of money earned in the trade of oil and the economy of Gulf region is only based on fossil fuels. All countries of Gulf region like Dubai, Qatar, Saudi – Arabia have become a strong economy and rich country due to petrol, oil and natural gas. With 260 billion bbl of proven oil reserves, Saud Arabia claims to be the largest oil producer and exported in the world (Fayola 225) . Many countries do not have fossil fuel production and they trade with Gulf regions. So the money involved in the fossil fuel industry is huge. In real sense, the United States and many other countries are locked in to something called a fossil fuel economy. All the technology runs with their aid and hence the money value of fossil fuel is dynamic. As per ( Brain) “The United States, and most other countries, cannot produce enough oil to meet demand, so they import it from oil-rich countries. That creates an economic dependence. When Middle East oil producers decide to raise the price of oil, the rest of the world has little choice but to pay the higher price”. The fossil fuel produce billions of dollars in a short span and thus investment in oil industry is heavy. Politics and Fossil Fuels The government has been always favorable to fossil fuel industry. Even though fossil fuel is depleting day by day, there had been no concern from the side of government regarding the renewable sources. There has been no support from government to introduce alternative fuels like nuclear energy or solar energy in to the public world. For government fossil fuel is a business rather than an energy system. No energy has so much control and monopoly on an economy than fossil fuel like petrol oil and gas. Government is well aware that the use of fossil fuel is the reason for green house gas emission and global warming. Yet they have not introduced any alternative fuel for automobile which emit so much of carbon. The government is contributing significantly to fossil fuel industry and the evidence for it is that they give subsidy for fossil fuel use. According to (Meyers ) “The research demonstrates that the federal government provided substantially larger subsidies to fossil fuels than to renewable. Fossil fuels benefited from approximately $72 billion over the seven-year period, while subsidies for renewable fuels totaled only $29 billion”. The government policy and American energy market is favoring traditional energy sources. The royalty relief to the provision of tax incentives and direct payments to the non – renewable energy indicates the political contribution towards fossil fuel. Fossil fuel is efficient there is no debate on this part, but considering the effect it has on the environment, it is not a good idea to continue using them. At least, the fossil fuel use should be cut by half so that other alternative energy system like solar energy can be used. Solar energy is eco –friendly and does not harm people or environment in any way. Installing solar panels would not be expensive for the householder and business on a long run. As per (The Guardian) “The cost of coal and copper — the ingredients of conventional grid power — are soaring. Meanwhile, the cost of solar panels and LEDs, the ingredients of distributed renewable power, are racing down even faster”. The solar power is abundant in nature and in Western countries at least in summer the solar power can be utilized in place of fossil fuels. The solar energy is an alternative energy on which we can depend on eternally. Sun is available as long as world exist and one need not be concerned about the depletion of solar energy. There is dirty fossil fuel business occurring worldwide and with solar energy no country need to depend on other countries like Gulf States for oil and gas. Every country and household can be energy sufficient and there is no risk of environmental pollution attached with it. Fossil fuel can run the industry because it is efficient and the solar panels can run the household and this is a viable option. Fossil fuel industry Fossil fuel is a huge industry run by Giant Corporations and there is billion of dollars invested in this business. The corporate world and the politics are involved in this fossil fuel industry. All the governmental policies are favoring fossil fuel industry and the lobby is influencing the government decision. It is the trade of oil which decides the stability of the American dollar. World is in the greed of money and everybody is moving with the corporate world and hardly does common man can raise voice against it. As per (Volcovici) “The U.S. oil industrys powerful lobbying arm said Friday it will push Congress and the Obama administration to consider lifting a ban on crude oil exports in the new year as domestic production is due to hit a record in 2016”. So, we can understand that government is under pressure from the corporate world and we need to take action to make some changes. The government being helpless, people need to make effort to invest on solar panels as this can bring credible change in the market. When people start installing solar panels, then the demand for it would increase and more people would be persuaded to introduce it in their households. Installing one or two solar panels could provide enough energy to a house hold and this would enhance consumer driven market movement. This is a best way to eliminate the greed of the corporate giants and corruption of CEOs and the politicians. Conclusion Human beings are intelligent but anything in excess can only bring harm than benefit. We have an advanced technology, resource and manpower but still the world is in doom when it comes to energy use. We have been using fossil fuels since centuries and still we have not able to depend on an alternative fuel even when future of fossil fuel is in danger. The alternative fuel has been discovered since decades but there is no use of these in any country in an efficient manner. America being a technologically advanced nation has the prime responsibility to use solar energy to reduce the dependency on fossil fuel. Unfortunately, the American government and corporate world are tied up to earn money and power. As per ( Bard 3-15) “The most powerful part of the Arab lobby is represented almost exclusively by Saudi Arabia and the corporate—especially oil companies—and diplomatic interests that view Saudi well-being as paramount to U.S economic and security concerns”. Even when America is complaining about Arab world they have a good rapport with Gulf States and this shows the American stand toward fossil fuel industry. Government is not essentially in the favor of common men and they are dominated by fossil fuel industry. So if common men understand this situation and play within the realm and works towards using solar panels then they can change the world for better. People need to make a change and then more support would follow from government and society in case of fossil fuel replacement. Bibliography Bard, Mitchell. "The Arab Lobby: The American Component." Middle East Quarterly 17.4 (2010): 3-15. Print. Falola, Toyin. The Politics of the Global Oil Industry: An Introduction. Westport: Praeger publisher, 2005. 225. Print. Goosens, Ehren. ".S. Solar Jumps 41% in 2013 Driven by Residential Demand." http://www.b loomberg.com. Bloomberg, 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. . Layton, Julia. "5 Things to Consider When Building a Solar-powered Home." http://science .howstuffworks.com. Howstuffworks, 2009. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. . Meyers, Russell. "Government Subsidies Favor Fossil Fuels Over Renewables ." http://www. motherearthnews.com. Mother Earth News, 2009. Web. 21 Mar. 2014. . Schott, Sachiko. "What Is the Origin of Fossil Fuel?." http://www.ehow.com. E How, 2012. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. . The Guardian, . "How solar power can help the billion people without electricity." http://www. theguard ian.com . Guardian, 2012. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. http://www.theguardian.com/env ironment/2012/jan/05/solar-power-billion-without-electricity Volcovici, Valerie. "U.S. oil lobby says will push Congress, president on crude exports." http://in.reuters.com. Reuters, 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. . Williams, john T. "Renewable Energy Vs. Fossil Fuel." http://smallbusiness.chron.com. The Chronicle, 2014. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. . Read More