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Unless you’ve been living deep beneath the Earth’s crust, you might have heard the term fossil fuels being bandied around in the news.
The term is used to encompass the oil, gas and coal that power our industrialised world.
Fossil fuels are constructed of hydrocarbon-based molecules. These compounds consist of only carbon and hydrogen atoms and are highly combustible.
The label fossil fuels seems to suggest that we pump liquefied dinosaurs into our cars, but is this actually the case?
ANCIENT ALGAE
Although there have been instances of dinosaur bones being found in fuel deposits, like an Ankylosaurus fossil that was discovered in a Canadian oil mine, this is very much considered an exception to the rule.
In fact, fossil fuels are composed mostly of microorganisms such as ancient algae and phytoplankton. Like the name suggests, phytoplankton are plankton that photosynthesise like plants. They are still crucial to aquatic ecosystems today as they represent the very bottom of the food chain.
These microorganisms spent their lives photosynthesising in shallow oceans, and as they died and littered the seafloor, huge deposits of carbon-rich sediment were created. This mostly occurred during the Mesozoic era from 65 to 252 million years ago – before dinosaurs even existed!
Other than under the sea, fossil fuels also formed on land during the Carboniferous period. During this time, no fungi or bacteria had yet evolved to break down the alien-like trees that covered the planet. All that organic matter just built up and up and up.
As more sediment accrued on top of these carbon-rich layers, huge amounts of pressure compacted the dead organisms into a substance called kerogen, which over time became what we know as petroleum.
Fuels deep inside the planet tend to seep away from the high pressures in the inner mantle. Usually, they hit an impenetrable layer, known as non-permeable cap rock. Geologists know that’s where fuel reservoirs are most likely to be formed and so will drill there to locate oil deposits.
BLACK CLOUDS
Since the Industrial Revolution, Australia and the rest of the world have become increasingly reliant on burning these natural resources. It is largely agreed that we are burning fossil fuels at a much faster rate than they are generated.
What’s more, according to the United Nations, fossil fuels are responsible for over 90% of all carbon dioxide emissions in our atmosphere.
Today’s science underscores the importance of a transition to renewable energy sources like solar and wind power.
Despite all these concerns about fossil fuels, at least you can rest assured that, when you fill up your car on a cheap Tuesday, you probably aren’t upsetting the ghosts of ancient dinosaurs.
Just millions of tiny, harmless phytoplankton.
