Non Renewable Energy

Fossil fuels are non renewable energy sources and supply up to 85 percent of the world's energy. These energy sources cannot be regenerated to keep up with the world's need for energy. The three main kinds of non renewable energy are coal, oil, and natural gas that was formed when incompletely decomposed plant and animal matter was buried in the earth's crust. It then converted into carbon-rich material which is used as fuel.

Coal: Coal was formed millions of years ago and during the formation, peat was produced and buried deep below the earth. Depending on the pressure and temperature of coal formation, different types of coal were produced. Lignite is the softest coal with lowest energy output and low amounts of sulfur. Over half of the electricity in the US is produced from coal. Sulfur in the coal turns to sulfur dioxide when coal is burned.

Oil: Crude oil, another fossil fuel, is converted into various energy products after a process of refinement. They include gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and heating oil. Oil migrates into porous rock and becomes trapped by another layer of rock. Oil wells are drilled into these rocks to remove gas and oil. More than 50 percent of the world's oil is found in the Middle East region. Oil is an affordable fuel source and preferred over coal. Oil burns and causes environmental pollution by releasing sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxides, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide.

Natural gas:A byproduct of oil recovery, natural gas is a mixture of gases, most common is methane. Ethane, propane, and butane are the other natural gases. It is the cleanest burning fuel as it does not contain sulfur dioxide. Natural gas is easy to transport through underground pipelines. Oil shale and tar sand are least used fossil fuels. Oil shale is a sedimentary rock with very minute pores. Oil shale is available abundantly but is seldom used because of large quantities of water needed for processing. Tar sand is also a sedimentary rock with very large amounts of crude oil. Canada has the largest tar sand deposit in the world.