As oil begins to run out, the prices across the globe have increased

dramatically in the last decade, but as it increases will less people

stop using their cars? Therefore won’t they have to provide a
different source of energy? Yes they are. So far they’ve come up
with many, but all of them have advantages and disadvantages,
some use natural resources, some don’t, but not one is 100% right.

Fossil fuels consist of 3 types: coal, oil and natural gas and gradually
these will run out. Coal is a fossil fuel. Its one of the most important
natural fuels, coal was formed from plant life buried in the Earth
millions of years ago. Like petroleum, natural gas, it is a carbon-
based fossil fuel. Coal is most commonly used to produce electricity
in power plants. It also is an important fuel for heating and powering
industrial and manufacturing facilities, and for making steel. The
many chemicals derived from coal are used in industrial processes
and in the manufacture of nylon, paints, plastics, synthetic rubber,
aspirin, and in thousands of other useful products. A hydrocarbon,
coal is classified in ranks, or types, according to the amount of heat
it produces. This depends upon the amount of fixed carbon it
contains. The ranks, in increasing order, are lignite, or brown coal;
sub bituminous coal, or very soft coal; bituminous coal, or
soft coal; and anthracite, or hard coal. Bituminous coal is the most
abundant type. It was created when forests growing in shallow
swaps during the Carboniferous period died and were covered by
sediments. The organic material in the trees could not rot away and
so it was preserved. Layers of rock on top compressed the organic
material and squeezed out the moisture. The coal formed as seams
of rock in between layers of sandstone and shale. If the coal is
buried deep below ground, shaft mines have to be dug down to
reach the coal. If it is fairly close to the surface it can be recovered
by opencast methods where the overburden is eventually replaced
and the landscape can be restored.
Secondly, there is oil. There are many different varieties of crude oil,
ranging from very fluid, volatile liquids to viscous, semisolid
materials. Crude oil is usually either black or green, but it can also
be light yellow or transparent. Crude oils vary considerably in
density and are described as heavy, average, or light. Light oils are
valuable because they contain more gasoline the most valuable
product refined from petroleum. Crude oil and natural gas are called
hydrocarbons because they are composed of compounds made up
almost entirely of carbon and hydrogen,
along with some minor impurities sulphur, nitrogen, and
oxygen. Petroleum is crude oil, a naturally occurring liquid that can
be distilled or refined to make fuels, lubricating oils, asphalt,
and other valuable products. The word petroleum comes from the
Latin petra, meaning "rock," and oleum, meaning "oil." Used in a
broad
sense, petroleum also refers to natural gas and solid asphalt, or
tar. Crude oil is a valuable raw material that is used in making a
great variety of products. About 70 percent of the energy consumed
in the western world comes from crude oil and natural gas. Crude oil
is refined into fuels, including gasoline, kerosene, jet fuel,
diesel fuel, furnace oil, and fuel oil. It is also the source of
greases, waxes, and coke. Crude oil and natural gas are used to
make feedstocks chemicals that are the basis of hundreds of
petrochemical products, including paints, plastics, synthetic rubbers
and fibres, fertilizers, drugs, and explosives. Oil is formed below the
sea from the remains of microscopic sea creatures that died and fell
to the sea floor. They were covered by layers of sediment, and again
this trapped and compressed the organic remains. Heat and
pressure slowly turned the organic content of the rocks into oil. If it
was trapped by a layer of impermeable rock above, it formed an oil
reservoir. The advantages of using oil are:
• It has a high net energy yield
• Its easily transported within and between countries
• Low land use
The disadvantages of using oil are:
• It causes air pollution when it is burnt
• It releases CO2 when burnt
• Increases dependency on countries that are major producers
of oil
• It causes moderate water pollution (e.g. BP oil spillage)
• The supply is decreasing
Finally there is natural gas. Natural gas is a mixture of flammable
gases, mainly the hydrocarbons methane and ethane that occurs
beneath the surface of the Earth. Helium is also found in relatively
high concentrations in natural gas. Manufactured gas is derived
principally from coal and petroleum. Natural gas usually occurs in
association with petroleum because geological conditions
favourable for it generally are favourable for natural-gas occurrence
as well. Although many natural gases can be used directly from the
well without treatment, some must be processed to remove such
undesirable constituents as carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, and
other sulphur components. Natural gas is often formed at the same
time as oil. It is usually lighter and so lies on top of the oil. Both oil
and natural gas are extracted using well which are drilled down to
the reservoir. Usually the oil and gas are initially forced out by their
own pressure in the reservoir but later on the reservoir pressure
falls and the pressurised fluids have to be forced down the well to
push up the oil. The oil and gas that are extracted are replaced by
mud, which fills the old reservoir. The advantages of using gas are:
• There is a high net energy yield.
• Less air pollution than fossil fuels
• Lower CO2 emissions than fossil fuels
• There is a moderate environmental impact
• There is a low land use.
The disadvantages of using gas are:
 • There is a possible chance of leaking methane from pipelines
• It lacks portability
• It releases CO2 emissions when burnt
• There are extraction side effects
• It requires expensive pipelines
• It is highly combustible and methane explosions are possible.

Nuclear Power and its uses is a growing discussion in today’s era of

technology. The UK relies on atomic energy for 20% of its electricity
but current estimates suggest that, apart from Sizewell B, all
existing power stations will be shut down by 2023. No reactors have
been built since the 1980’s. The Chernobyl accident, rapidly rising
decommissioning costs and the problems of storing or disposing of
nuclear waste, combined to put expansion plans on old. However,
the current crisis, rising costs of fossil fuels and concerns about
global warming mean that nuclear energy has to be considered
seriously again.
Australia is one of the developed countries where the demands of
energy resources are increasing rapidly. Nuclear energy is coming
up as a great alternative, but various factors support as well as
oppose its growth. Some countries oppose the usage of nuclear
energy because of the problems associated with its usage.
Production and maintenance of nuclear power is very expensive.
Nuclear power is viewed as too dangerous, uneconomical, and not
required. Although, nuclear energy has a potential hazard, but it is
reliable in terms of efficiency, environmental impact and cost when
compared with other sources of energy. Therefore, the increase in
the demand of nuclear energy could be substantial. Today, there are
109 nuclear power plants in the United States which contribute
roughly 20% of the power used in the United States (2005). Nuclear
fission is performed by fusion of hydrogen into helium. This is done
using uranium, plutonium, or thorium and placing them in the
reactor, which start a chain reaction that can produce vast amounts
of energy. Uranium is the element primarily used in reactors. The
fission of a single atom can produce 10 million times the amount of
energy that an atom can produce that is burned from coal. Uranium
is an abundant element which is easily found and extracted. It often
has to undergo a relatively cheap refining process, however, as the
isotopes are found mixed in nature. Nuclear fission is also relatively
clean, as there is no excess CO2 produced, as there is in the burning
of coal and petroleum. It does, however, have is pollutants. The
filtering rods used have to be changed every two years and the old
rods disposed of. Because the rods are highly radioactive, their
disposal must be dealt with meticulously. Currently most of the rods
are shipped to Yucca Mountain (2005). Despite the benefits of
nuclear fission, the quest still continues for an even better energy
source.