Fossil Fuels which include Petroleum and Natural Gas were formed million years ago from the remains of plants and animals, are responsible 40% and 20% respectively for the world's energy. They were first discovered about 700-900 years ago, however since the first modern petroleum industry began in 1859, the demand for fossil fuels has escalated beyond our control. It had taken 50-300 million years to form, and yet we have managed to burn roughly half of all global oil reserves in merely 125 years.� It is crucial to decrease our usage of energy, and find alternate sources. �
English: Typical Brazilian fuel station with a cho...
English: The , also known as the Green Mountain En...
Figure 1The consumption of a finite resource is simply a finite venture and the faster we use the quicker it peaks" (M. Simmons)
The rate of oil being consumed is 4 times faster than they are discovered. Each year, the oil consumption increases while oil production has decreased/remain constant. 95% of all the recoverable oil in the world has been found and half of the world's total reserve which is about 2.5 trillion barrels of oil has already been consumed. The rate to produce high-quality and economically extractable oil is rapidly reaching the maximum level possible( Peak Oil )even after natural gas and expensive, risky deepwater and polar oil is included in the calculation. �
Alternate Sources
Biomass: Biomass is solar energy stored in organic compounds; it can be converted to methane gas, ethanol or...