Most realize that coal (that provided 25% of all energy globally in 2022) is the result of trees and plants. The carbon that we are now liberating was originally captured from carbon dioxide removed from the air via photosynthesis, deeply buried and converted to coal.
Oil and gas provided another 52% of global energy in 2022, but few are aware of the origin of these fossil fuels.
The source of oil and gas is also originally from sun-powered photosynthesis. In the ancient oceans, certain basins had recurring algal blooms that bloomed, died and fell to the primeval seafloor. The algae were photosynthesis-driven phytoplankton that accumulated over the many millennia as layers of organic-rich muds. These layers were tens or hundreds of feet thick. They were buried deeply, and the thermogenic heat converted the organics first to oil and with higher temperatures to natural gas.
(https://files.constantcontact.com/c9e43177001/ae51721a-e9e8-4916-a2b2-62ae0537f5bb.jpg)
Based on this information, we can correctly refer to fossil fuels as natural solar-powered energy or, if you like, giant solar energy storage batteries!
Oil and gas are NOT abiotic. That theory was quite thoroughly debunked many decades ago but still lives on in internet postings.
The above material was drawn from an upcoming new book, A Very Convenient Warming - How Modest Warming and More CO2 are Benefiting Humanity, that will be published later this month.
calling them "fossil fuels" was a duel purpose tactic.... for one thing, it implied that they were a "limited" resource despite the fact they consistently replace themselves.... and the other reason being they implied "dinosaurs" which was a theory that was put forward long before they found the first "fossil"....
Study: Global plant growth surging alongside carbon dioxide
(https://i.imgur.com/lL6f51V.jpeg)
A trace gas present in the atmosphere in miniscule amounts is helping scientists answer one of the biggest questions out there: Has plant growth increased alongside rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?
It turns out the answer is Yes – in a big way. A new study published in the April 6 edition of the journal Nature concludes that as emissions of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels have increased since the start of the 20th century, plants around the world are utilizing 30 percent more carbon dioxide (CO2), spurring plant growth.
https://www.noaa.gov/news/study-global-plant-growth-surging-alongside-carbon-dioxide
Quote from: Oliver the Second on October 05, 2023, 12:02:24 PMStudy: Global plant growth surging alongside carbon dioxide
(https://i.imgur.com/lL6f51V.jpeg)
A trace gas present in the atmosphere in miniscule amounts is helping scientists answer one of the biggest questions out there: Has plant growth increased alongside rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?
It turns out the answer is Yes – in a big way. A new study published in the April 6 edition of the journal Nature concludes that as emissions of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels have increased since the start of the 20th century, plants around the world are utilizing 30 percent more carbon dioxide (CO2), spurring plant growth.
https://www.noaa.gov/news/study-global-plant-growth-surging-alongside-carbon-dioxide
That is an excellent point Oliver. We are only getting one side of the story. A changing climate is all bad. There are certainly benefits that go along with it, such as a greener planet and better agricultural opportunities in areas of the world that did not have it before.
This is also true of fossil fuels. We are told they are bad. We are not told how they have lifted billions of people out of abject poverty, increased life spans and replaced more polluting fuels like wood for cooking and heat.
BTW, plants convert to crude oil in a very short period of time. We were told tens of thousands of years yet nature does it in days, even hours.
Quote from: Lokmar on October 05, 2023, 01:09:30 PMBTW, plants convert to crude oil in a very short period of time. We were told tens of thousands of years yet nature does it in days, even hours.
Contrary to popular lies, fossil fuels are renewable and being replenshed all the time. But, I believe it is not as fast as we consume it.
Please post where you read fossils can be renewed that fast.
Quote from: DKG on October 05, 2023, 01:32:07 PMContrary to popular lies, fossil fuels are renewable and being replenshed all the time. But, I believe it is not as fast as we consume it.
Please post where you read fossils can be renewed that fast.
It has been more than 10 years since I read that, maybe even 15+ and I have lost track of the article.
Kelp gets trapped in baja, sinks to an area with thermal vents, gets cooked into oil, and the oil floats to the surface. Chemically, it is identical to light sweet crude.
I was able to find this which is relevant:
https://arpa-e.energy.gov/technologies/projects/biofuel-production-kelp
oil from the sea = fish poo.
Oil underneath the land is rotting jungle from prehistory times.
What the problem is concerning collecting crude from the sea is, in the search for crude oil deposits is the churning up of seabeds.
In the old days people were extremely stingy but humans today are detrimentally wasteful.
we need to return to stingy days but many would disagree with me.
Quote from: caskur on October 05, 2023, 01:55:08 PMoil from the sea = fish poo.
Oil underneath the land is rotting jungle from prehistory times.
What the problem is concerning collecting crude from the sea is, in the search for crude oil deposits is the churning up of seabeds.
In the old days people were extremely stingy but humans today are detrimentally wasteful.
we need to return to stingy days but many would disagree with me.
It is formed from organic matter, plants or animals. In sea oil, plankton. Most oil in the deep sea isn't spilled there by humans, but constantly leaks from reservoirs deep beneath the seafloor.
Quote from: DKG on October 05, 2023, 02:09:02 PMIt is formed from organic matter, plants or animals. In sea oil, plankton. Most oil in the deep sea isn't spilled there by humans, but constantly leaks from reservoirs deep beneath the seafloor.
I looked what crude oil was made up of and it's mainly fish poo. I have kept fish for 1/2 a century myself... I'm heavily invested in all things marine.
I have never heard about leaking reservoirs. I am not saying that isn't true though. The sea floor are series of mountain ranges like the surface of the earth. And no human has ever been able to explore the oceans deepest depths.
Quote from: caskur on October 05, 2023, 02:50:13 PMno human has ever been able to explore the oceans deepest depths.
James Cameron will be crushed to hear that.
On 26 March 2012, Cameron reached the bottom of the Challenger Deep, the deepest part of the Mariana Trench. The maximum depth recorded during this record-setting dive was 10,908 metres (35,787 ft). Measured by Cameron, at the moment of touchdown, the depth was 10,898 m (35,756 ft). It was the fourth-ever dive to the Challenger Deep and the second crewed dive (with a maximum recorded depth slightly less than that of Trieste's 1960 dive). It was the first solo dive and the first to spend a significant amount of time (three hours) exploring the bottom.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepsea_Challenger
Life without fossil fuels aint possible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_klzTjNsRH0
If you think about it, bio based hydrocarbons are the ultimate green energy source. The sun and plants convert CO2 and the biomass gets turned into fuel for my car. Nothing could be better! Solar panels and windmills are undependable eyesores for much of the earth. Maybe in a desert they are ok, but they are still eyesores.
Quote from: Lokmar on December 19, 2023, 12:13:59 AMIf you think about it, bio based hydrocarbons are the ultimate green energy source. The sun and plants convert CO2 and the biomass gets turned into fuel for my car. Nothing could be better! Solar panels and windmills are undependable eyesores for much of the earth. Maybe in a desert they are ok, but they are still eyesores.
Solar panels are okay small scale, but they cannot power the planet. Besides they use up a lot more resources than fossils and they use a lot of fossils anyway.
Natural gas is the basis of modern fertilizer, and we have no other way that's close to that of making fertilizer. And yet people talk about, "Well, let's get rid of fossil fuels." And they don't mention that. And often they mention food. So they say, "I'm so concerned about fossil-fueled climate change making it harder to grow food," but there's almost no concern about lack of fossil fuels making it hard to grow food even though modern food for 8 billion people is based on the benefits of fossil fuels.
Not only does natural gas not come from dinosaurs, it is renewable too.