Fossil Fuels

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Fossil Fuels

Advantages

  • Very large amounts of electricity can be generated in one place, using coal, fairly cheaply (capacity to generate huge amounts of electricity in one single place)
  • Transporting oil and gas to power stations is an easy task (through pipe lines)
  • Gas-fired power stations are very efficient
  • A foss-fueled power station can be built almost anywhere, so long as you can get large quantities of fuel to it (e.g. Didcot power station, in Oxfordshire, has dedicated a rail link to supply the coal
  • When coal is used in power plants, they are very cost effective. Coal is also in abundant supply
  • Power stations that make use of fossil fuel can be constructed in almost any location. This is possible as long as large quantities of fuel can be easily brought to the power plants
  • Many alternative fuels remain expensive, hard to distribute, difficult to get energy from and hard to access, making the switch over extremely difficult (The vast majority of our infrastructure uses these fuels, and changing over from them will be a difficult process)

Disadvantages

  • Basically, the main drawback of fossil fuels is pollution, burning any fossil fuel produces carbon dioxide, which contribute to the "greenhouse effect", warming the Earth > this is the main contributory factor to global warming experienced by the Earth today
  • Burning coal produces more carbon dioxide than burning oil or gas, and also produces sulphur dioxide, a gas that contributes to acid rain- we can reduce the waste gases into the atmosphere
  • Mining coal can be difficult and dangerous, ***** mining destroys large areas of the landscape (while coal is much more plentiful than oil, extraction of coal can be very unsafe, and is damaging to the environment on a large scale, causing erosion, acidification of the environment, and destruction of wild lands)
  • Coal-fired power stations need huge amounts of fuel= train-loads of coal almost constantly and in order to cope with changing demands of power, the station needs reserves- meaning covering a large area of the countryside next to the power station with piles of coal
  • Fossil fuels are not a renewable energy source, once all are burnt, there isn't anymore, and worryingly our consumption of fossil fuels has doubled every 20yrs since 1900 (this is a particular problem for OIL, because we also use it to make plastics and many other products)
  • Some argue that they are renewable as more coal seams and oil fields will be formed, yet this is in many millions of years!
  • Environmentally, the mining of coal results in the destruction of wide areas of land. Mining this fossil fuel is also difficult and may endanger the lives of miners. Coal mining is considered one of the most dangerous jobs in the world
  • Use of natural gas can cause unpleasant odors and some problems especially with transportation
  • Use of crude oil causes pollution and poses environmental hazards such as oil spills when oil tankers, for instance, experience leaks or drown deep under the sea. Crude oil contains toxic chemicals which cause air pollutants when combusted (e.g. Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Gulf of Mexico)
  • Coal and oil release sulfur dioxide gas when they burn, which causes breathing problems for living creatures and contributes to acid rain

Evaluation

Overall, economically fossil fuels can be said to be advantageous, due to the vast amounts of energy, including electricity, that can be generated, at relatively low costs in relation to renewable options. Cost reductions include the ease of transportation and high efficiency of the power stations, especially as they can be built almost anywhere. However, environmentally and from a sustainable outlook (including economic sustainability and viability) they are disadvantageous, because of their production of greenhouse gases, in particular carbon dioxide, as well as their limited supply that is estimated to run out in the next 40-50yrs, unless any real strides are made towards meeting global energy demands through renewable sources.

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