Oil and natural gas were made in an analogous way; the only difference is they consisted of dead animals and plants in the sea. When the creatures and plants died they sank to the bottom of the sea where they were covered in sediment. As there was also no oxygen the remains did not decompose. The remains of the organisms broke down and released oil. Natural gas was due to heat and pressure from the material above and below. The oil and gas reached the surface by leaking through all the porous rocks.
Burning Fossil Fuels
When something is burnt it joins oxygen and becomes an oxide. Water vapor is formed due to the high heat temperature.
Oil and natural gas are hydrocarbons, so carbon dioxide and water are formed instead. Too much carbon dioxide is released into the air which will cause the Earth or get warmer; scientists predict that this extra heat will cause sea levels to rise causing flooding.
Nuclear Fuels
Nuclear power stations use uranium and plutonium as fuels. Nuclear reactions release energy from those fuels. Supplies of theses metals are limited. This basically means that when these metals have been used up they can not be replaced.
Renewable Sources
Renewable sources means that a certain type of fuel can be replaced, there are six types of renewable fuels these are; hydro electric power, tidal power, wind power, geothermal power, wave power and solar power.
You get hydro electric power when a river runs into a lake from behind a dam, this water fills a reservoirs, and a reservoir is a huge quantity of water. The advantages of this are that this method does not pollute and it meets some demands. The disadvantages are that they need huge valleys, which means destroying many trees, animals and habitats.
You get tidal power from, the moving water in the sea. Twice a day, huge magnitudes of water flow in and out of the estuaries. Estuaries are huge rivers that lead into the sea. The only drawback is that it destroys many habitats.
Wind power occurs when there is a strong wind and man-made wind turbines turn, this power turns into electricity. The turbines are usually placed in groups rather than individually because this way you receive lots of electricity, rather than a lot of electricity in one place sand not much in another. The wind turbines are usually placed on coasts. The stronger the wind, the more electricity produced. The advantages of wind power are; it is a pollution free method of receiving power. On the downside public say the turbines are ugly and noisy.
Geothermal power occurs in volcanic areas, when the steam is naturally produced, it is piped up when it reaches the surface and then used to turn turbine blades. This way of producing power is uncommon; this method is mainly used in America because England does not have any known volcanoes.
Solar power occurs when the sun shines brightly onto solar pads, which absorb the sunlight and turn it into electricity. Weaknesses of solar power are; the solar pads are expensive and you need lots of solar pads to make a large amount of energy.
Why don’t we always use non-renewable sources?
We do not always use non-renewable sources because: they pollute the atmosphere by burning them, and releasing carbon dioxide which causes global warming due to the greenhouse effect and acid rain. Acid rain destroys our trees, plants and precious stones, such as limestone. Also if we run out of these fuels we will not be able to get anymore, unless we find another mine, which involves more digging and hard work. Finally because factories do not have straight access to coal and need it, so we must cut down on how much we use.