What does fossil fuel mean?

Definitions for fossil fuel
fos·sil fu·el

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word fossil fuel.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. fossil fuelnoun

    fuel consisting of the remains of organisms preserved in rocks in the earth's crust with high carbon and hydrogen content

Wiktionary

  1. fossil fuelnoun

    any fuel derived from hydrocarbon deposits such as coal, petroleum, natural gas and, to some extent, peat; these fuels are irreplaceable, and their burning generates the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide

Wikipedia

  1. Fossil fuel

    A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels may be burned to provide heat for use directly (such as for cooking or heating), to power engines (such as internal combustion engines in motor vehicles), or to generate electricity. Some fossil fuels are refined into derivatives such as kerosene, gasoline and propane before burning. The origin of fossil fuels is the anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms, containing organic molecules created by photosynthesis. The conversion from these materials to high-carbon fossil fuels typically require a geological process of millions of years.In 2019, 84% of primary energy consumption in the world and 64% of its electricity was from fossil fuels. The large-scale burning of fossil fuels causes serious environmental damage. Over 80% of the carbon dioxide (CO2) generated by human activity comes from burning them: around 35 billion tonnes a year, compared to 4 billion from land development. Natural processes on Earth, mostly absorption by the ocean, can only remove a small part of this. Therefore, there is a net increase of many billion tonnes of atmospheric carbon dioxide per year. Although methane leaks are significant,: 52  the burning of fossil fuels is the main source of greenhouse gas emissions causing global warming and ocean acidification. Additionally, most air pollution deaths are due to fossil fuel particulates and noxious gases. It is estimated that this costs over 3% of the global gross domestic product and that fossil fuel phase-out will save millions of lives each year.Recognition of the climate crisis, pollution and other negative impacts caused by fossil fuels has led to a widespread policy transition and activist movement focused on ending their use in favor of sustainable energy. However, because the fossil-fuel industry is so heavily integrated in the global economy and heavily subsidized, this transition is expected to have significant economic impacts. Many stakeholders argue that this change needs to be a just transition and create policy that addresses the societal burdens created by the stranded assets of the fossil fuel industry.International policy, in the form of United Nations sustainable development goals for affordable and clean energy and climate action, as well as the Paris Climate Agreement, is designed to facilitate this transition at a global level. In 2021, the International Energy Agency concluded that no new fossil fuel extraction projects could be opened if the global economy and society wants to avoid the worst impacts of climate change and meet international goals for climate change mitigation.

ChatGPT

  1. fossil fuel

    Fossil fuel is a type of natural fuel formed in the Earth’s crust from the remains of ancient plants and animals over millions of years. It contains high percentages of carbon and hydrocarbons. The different types of fossil fuels include coal, oil, and natural gas. They are primarily used for energy production, such as heating homes, fueling vehicles, and generating electricity.

Wikidata

  1. Fossil fuel

    Fossil fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years. Fossil fuels contain high percentages of carbon and include coal, petroleum, and natural gas. They range from volatile materials with low carbon:hydrogen ratios like methane, to liquid petroleum to nonvolatile materials composed of almost pure carbon, like anthracite coal. Methane can be found in hydrocarbon fields, alone, associated with oil, or in the form of methane clathrates. The theory that fossil fuels formed from the fossilized remains of dead plants by exposure to heat and pressure in the Earth's crust over millions of years was first introduced by Georg Agricola in 1556 and later by Mikhail Lomonosov in the 18th century. It was estimated by the Energy Information Administration that in 2007 primary sources of energy consisted of petroleum 36.0%, coal 27.4%, natural gas 23.0%, amounting to an 86.4% share for fossil fuels in primary energy consumption in the world. Non-fossil sources in 2006 included hydroelectric 6.3%, nuclear 8.5%, and others amounting to 0.9%. World energy consumption was growing about 2.3% per year.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of fossil fuel in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of fossil fuel in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of fossil fuel in a Sentence

  1. Daniela Lapidous:

    New York is mostly purchasing fossil fuel products out of state, so when we transition to a renewable economy we will be spending New York dollars in New York, creating good local jobs that pay well and are meant to be accessible to women, communities of color, low-income communities.

  2. Alek Skarlatos:

    Val Hoyle has said that she doesn't believe in any new fossil fuel infrastructure when gas is $5 a gallon in the state, and diesel is about six. She's also voted to raise taxes on hospitals and nursing homes, again, our most vulnerable population. Seniors in the poorest congressional district in the state can afford that the least as well, i think those kinds of baseline economic issues are where you're going to see us separate. I mean, she's appealing pretty much to the Democrats in the district. Her sign even says a Democrat for Congress on it.

  3. Andrew Forrest:

    Fossil fuel companies trying to tell the world that natural gas, blue hydrogen or gray hydrogen are a solution to climate change are lying, blue hydrogen, gray hydrogen, any type of hydrogen that is not green is dirty and uses fossil fuels to make it. It is like clean coal or cancer-free tobacco.

  4. Kassie Siegel:

    New fossil fuel extraction doesn’t make sense from any group’s perspective.

  5. Dave Jones:

    The global decline of coal and power sector emissions is good news for the climate, but governments have to dramatically accelerate the electricity transition so that global coal generation collapses throughout the 2020s, to switch from coal into gas is just swapping one fossil fuel for another.


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"fossil fuel." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/fossil+fuel>.

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