ABSTRACT
It is difficult to perceive today’s society without the use of fossil fuels. Fossil fuel combustion supplies more than two-thirds of the electricity generated in the world, almost the entire motive power used for transportation, more than 80% of the household energy for heating and cooking, and more than 90% of the energy for industrial processes and products. At the beginning of the industrial revolution, coal alone supplied heat for the operation of the steam engines and locomotives. The use of fossil fuels expanded early in the twentieth century, when liquid petroleum products powered the internal combustion engines of automobiles, trucks, agricultural tractors, and, later, airplanes. At about the same time, a large network of pipelines brought natural gas to cities and supplied the households with a cleaner fuel for heating and cooking than wood and coal. All three types of fossil fuels—solids, liquids and gases—have been used for the production of electricity, which provides power in a very controlled way to railways, computer networks, telecommunications, household lights, refrigerators, air-conditioners, sensors, etc. Fossil fuels have become an essential part and a necessity for our lives, and it is difficult to imagine contemporary life without them.
