Fossil+Fuel+Power

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 * = Burning Fuel do not delete!!!this holds the space between the page! A WikiSpace about Fossil Fuel Power =

do not delete this either! // By Emma Applbaum and Guy Carrington Parsons The 4th //

Vocabulary Related to Fossil Fuel Power

 * **A fossil fuel** is a hydrocarbon deposit, such as petroleum, coal, oil, or natural gas, that has been derived from the accumulated remains of ancient plants and animals. Fossil fuels are very closely related to fossil fuel power because their energy is harnessed to create the fossil fuel power.
 * **Biomass** is any organic matter from a plant or animal that can be harnessed into fossil fuel power. Biomass is relevant to fossil fuel power because biomass is a type of fossil fuel.
 * **Coal** is a a dark brown or black solid substance formed from the eventual compaction and hardening of fossilized plant parts, after a time without air. Coal is one of the fossil fuels that can be converted into energy.
 * **Oils** are any of numerous flammable substances that are generally slippery and liquid or liquefiable at room temperatures. Heating oils are often used as fossil fuels to turn into fossil fuel power.
 * **Gas** is a substance possessing molecular mobility and the property of indefinite expansion because it has no set form. Natural gas is a fossil fuel, and its energy is harnessed to create fossil fuel power.
 * **A hydrocarbon** is an organic compound such as as acetylene, benzene, or butane that contains only carbon and hydrogen. Hydrocarbons can often be found in petroleum, natural gas, coal, and bitumens. When the hydrocarbons in fossil fuels are broken, they release energy, which is eventually converted into fossil fuel power.
 * **Combustion** is the process of breaking atomic bonds to release energy in the form of light and heat. Fossil fuels have many hydrocarbons, each of which has many bonds. When the bonds undergo combustion, they release a great deal of energy and heat, which is why natural gas and heating oils are very energy-efficient. To make use of the heat and energy produced by fossil fuels, people have developed drilling and refining techniques, and other methods to harness fossil fuel energy.
 * Biomass **power** is the capture of energy embodied in biomass that is released when chemical bonds are broken by microbial digestion, combustion, or decomposition. See biomass.
 * **Turbines** are devices that convert the kinetic energy of a moving liquid or fluid into electric energy.
 * **Generators** are machines that convert mechanical energy into electricity to serve as a power source for other machines. In the case of turning fossil fuels into energy, generators use combustion engines to spin wire coils in strong magnetical fields, inducing an electric potential in the coils.
 * **Energy conversion** is the process of changing one form of energy to another.
 * **Carbon dioxide** is a colorless, odorless, incombustible gas. It is formed during respiration, combustion, and organic decomposition and its symbol is CO 2.
 * **Sulphur dioxide** is a colorless toxic gas (SO2) that occurs in the gases from volcanoes. It causes acid rain when released into the air.
 * **Acid rain** is precipitation such as rain or snow that contains relatively high concentrations of acid-forming chemicals. In the case of fossil fuel power, those chemicals are the pollutants from the coal smoke that rises above coal-powered power plants.
 * **Air pollution** is the introduction of harmful substances or products into the air, which may cause acid rain. The worst disadvantage towards using fossil fuel power is that the pollutants from coal smoke often contributes to air pollution.
 * Coal, oil, and gas are classified as "fossil fuels" because they were formed from the fossilized remains of prehistoric matter such as plants and animals.

**The Pollution of Power Plants**  **Below is an interesting video animation about an oil rig and how it works. **

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Releasing Coal's Energy
The process of converting coal into electricity has multiple steps, although it is similar to the processes for making use of heating oil and natural gas:

1. A machine called a pulverizer grinds the coal into a fine powder.

2. The coal powder mixes with hot air, which helps the coal burn more efficiently, and the mixture moves to the furnace.

3. As the coal burns in the furnace, its produces heat which heats water in a boiler, creating steam.

4. Steam released from the boiler powers an engine called a turbine, transforming heat energy from burning coal into mechanical energy that spins the turbine engine.

5. The spinning turbine is used to power a generator. This happens when magnets inside a copper coil in the generator spin.

6. A condenser cools the steam moving through the turbine. As the steam is condensed, it turns back into water.

7. The water returns to the boiler, and the cycle begins again.​ 3



**The advantages of fossil fuels:**

 * Very large amounts of energy can be generated very cheaply from coal.


 * It is also relatively easy to transport oil and gas to **power stations.**


 * Gas-fired **power stations** are very efficient at producing energy.


 * A fossil-fueled **power station** can be built almost anywhere in the world, as long as the fuel is somehow transported to it.

. **The disadvantages of fossil fuels:**

 * The main drawback of fossil fuels is the high amount of **pollution** they produce. Burning fossil fuels releases **carbon dioxide** into the air, which contributes to the "greenhouse effect" in contributing to global warming around the Earth.


 * Burning coal for energy produces more **carbon dioxide ** than burning oil or gas. Coal also produces **sulphur dioxide **, a gas which, when not properly managed and allowed to be released into the air, pollutes the precipitation and contributes to **acid rain. 1 **
 * Mining for coal can be an activity that is dangerous, physically taxing, and psychologically frightening. One example of the dangers of coal mining is the infamous April 2010 Montcoal, West Virgina coal Massey blast, which killed 29 miners in a tragic loss of life. Political activist Ralph Nader blames poor mine security for the accident in [|this article], saying:


 * //"The tragedy at the Massey Energy Company’s very profitable Upper Big Branch coal mine at Montcoal, West Virginia, which so far has cost 25 miners’ lives, is another reminder of the immense human and environmental cost of this fuel. More coal miners have lost their lives from cave-ins, explosions and lung disease since 1900 than all the Americans who died in World War II. The devastation extends to chronic sickness from breathing coal dust and to maimed coal miners, often seen walking on crutches in the hollows of Appalachia." 5 //


 * Here is an animation which shows the workings of a coal power station and how it turns coal into fossil fuel power:**

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**Bibliography**
1. Darvill, Andy. "Energy Resources: Fossil Fuels." Energy Resources. 11 Jan. 2010. Web. 1 Apr. 2010.[| http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/fossil.htm.]

2. Chughtai, Osman, and David Shannon. "Fossil Fuels." Fossil Fuels. The University of Michigan, 1995. Web. 5 Apr. 2010.[| http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/society/fossilfuels.htm]

3. The American Coal Corporation. "Converting Coal into Electricity." All About Coal. The American Coal Corporation, 2010. Web. 5 Apr. 2010. []

4. Morris, Neil. Fossil Fuels. North Mankato, Minnesota: Smart Apple Media, 2007. Print.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5. Nader, Ralph. "The Miserable State of Mine Safety." Editorial. <span style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-collapse: separate; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px;">//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 80%;">The Independent Political Report. // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">10 Apr. 2010. The Independent Political Report, 10 Apr. 2009. Web. 10 Apr. 2010. @http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2010/04/ralph-nader-the-miserable-state-of-mine-safety/. ||  || Help · About · Bl