What are fossil fuels?

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:44

In economic activity, people use various substances, among which combustible minerals are among the first in importance. For any state, this is a very important strategic raw material that has been mined and used by mankind since ancient times. What minerals are combustible? These include coal, gas, oil, peat and oil shale.

Coal

Coals are contemporaries of the geological epochs of antiquity. In the geochronological scale, one of the periods is called the Carboniferous. It is believed that at that time the planet was covered with a tropical forest, which consisted of huge horsetails and tree ferns. As a result, they formed coal-fired fossil fuels.

In that era, the climate was humid and warm. Fallen trees were replaced by new ones. Huge layers of wood accumulated. In shallow reservoirs and swamps, they turned into coal-fired fossil fuels. It is believed that at least 30% of the coal on the planet was formed in this way. coal depositsare not uncommon. They can be found not only on the continents, but also on some islands. Even Antarctica is no exception. It is believed that combustible minerals lie under kilometer-long ice sheets.

Coal was known by the distant ancestors of modern people. There are various types of it - their formation conditions differed. Anthracite is considered the highest quality of them, followed by coking and brown coals. The latter are the least valuable in terms of energy. Fossil coals are used to smelt iron.

Hydrocarbon fossil fuels

These include oil and gas, which are formed in natural subsoil cavities. They accumulated organic matter, the remains of living organisms. For millions of years, with little access to air, they have become a valuable raw material, which is called "black gold", as well as natural gas. There are deposits of combustible minerals of the hydrocarbon type on all continents. Oil has a complex chemical composition. Its production is accompanied by the release of natural gas, which usually occurs above the oil-bearing horizon. Oil is used in a huge number of industries. In addition to the basis for the production of automotive fuel, it is the most important raw material for the chemical industry.

Many countries of the world have deposits of "black gold". However, the largest reserves are in the following countries: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Russia,Mexico, Canada, Indonesia and USA. The latter state has very rich explored deposits, but does not fully exploit them in order to save oil for the future. The extraction of "black gold" is carried out not only on land, but also on the shelves of many seas with the help of drilling floating platforms. In the Russian Federation, Samotlor is considered one of the richest deposits. It is located in Western Siberia. The three largest gas fields are located in the Tyumen region: Urengoyskoye, Bovanenkovskoye, Yamburgskoye.