ABSTRACT
Non-living organisms exposed to air on the other hand just return carbon dioxide to the atmosphere as the result of oxidative decay: respiration by microbes, for instance. Usage is reasonably attached to the fact that the fuels have their origin in formerly living organisms. Initial mixtures of organic matter that ultimately give rise to oil and natural gas are very complex in nature, and referred to collectively as kerogen. Kerogen is organic matter, the altered remains of marine and other water-body microorganisms disseminated in sediments. Sediments from diatomaceous and microbial detritus have perhaps a couple of percent organic carbon. The porosity of minerals in which the oil sources are located depends on the carbon dioxide produced during diagenesis and on the acid pH that results. In commercial processing of petroleum, higher temperatures are required to “crack” the mixtures, breaking them down into useful derivatives such as gasoline.
