In this blog post, we will look at why fossil energy is important to our lives and why it is urgent to switch to alternative energy now.
A large amount of fossil energy is used worldwide while we are breathing and living. Although many people are not aware of it, fossil energy has become an essential part of our lives. If fossil energy suddenly disappeared, the world would fall into chaos. What is fossil energy that is so closely related to our lives?
First, let’s look at the dictionary definition of fossil energy. Fossil fuels, or fossil energy, are fuels created by the fossilization of the remains of plants and animals buried in the earth’s crust over a long period of time, and the energy obtained from them. Representative fossil fuels include oil, coal, and natural gas. Fossil energy is widely used in various areas that we are not aware of, and it is deeply intertwined with our daily lives, from basic activities such as the electricity we use, home heating, and factory operation to transportation. This means that fossil energy is not just for industrial use, but also has a significant impact on people’s lives.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 45% of Korea’s energy consumption is accounted for by oil, 26% by coal, and 14% by natural gas. As you can see, most of the energy we use is fossil energy. This fossil energy is created through the long-term decay and chemical reactions of the remains of plants and animals that were buried in the earth long ago and prevented from coming into contact with oxygen in the air. The hydrocarbons created in this way are now used as fossil fuels. Today, we mine this energy as needed, process it, and use it as an essential driving force for the economy and our lives.
Let’s learn more about the main fossil fuels we use: oil, coal, and natural gas. Oil is the fossil fuel we use the most. Oil is separated into petroleum gas, naphtha, kerosene, diesel, heavy oil, and asphalt through fractional distillation using the differences in the boiling points of crude oils. Each type of oil is used for different purposes depending on its characteristics. Naphtha is used in the private cars that we commonly use, and kerosene is used as fuel for airplanes. Asphalt is widely used for road paving. Oil reserves are concentrated in a few countries, with Saudi Arabia having the largest reserves of crude oil, accounting for 25.2% of the total. The Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, accounts for 65.2% of the total. For this reason, there are many people in the Middle East who have become rich through the oil business, and we sometimes call them “oil tycoons” or “oil princes.” Oil is in high demand and production is limited, so the price fluctuates greatly. Since there are many industries that use oil, these fluctuations in oil prices have a major impact on the global economy.
Coal, the second largest source of fossil energy, is used in many places because it is cheap. Coal is largely classified into anthracite and bituminous coal. Anthracite coal is well carbonized and burns without producing smoke. It does not catch fire easily, but it maintains a constant temperature and produces strong heat. In the past, people used anthracite coal for cooking and heating because of these characteristics, but recently, demand has been declining due to the risk of harmful gas emissions, etc. Bituminous coal, unlike anthracite coal, emits a distinctive odor when burned. It is easy to ignite and can create high temperatures in an instant, making it the main fuel for the coal chemical industry. In particular, bituminous coal is an important raw material in the steel industry, and since large steel mills consume large amounts of coal, increases or decreases in global steel production have a significant impact on coal demand.
Finally, natural gas is a natural gas that is emitted from oil fields and coal mines, and includes methane and ethane. Methane is the simplest hydrocarbon gas and exists in a gaseous state at room temperature. This methane gas is used as the main ingredient of LNG. Ethane gas is much less abundant than methane gas and is mainly used in residential gas or natural gas-powered buses. In the past, it was not widely used due to inconvenience in transportation, but recently, the amount of use has been increasing due to the development of technology to liquefy natural gas. As an example of this, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has revised its forecast for US natural gas production upward this year. Natural gas plays an important role in electricity production, especially because it emits relatively less carbon than conventional coal or oil-based power generation, and is therefore attracting attention as an energy source for reducing greenhouse gases.
There are three major problems with fossil energy. The first is the limited amount of fossil energy reserves, the second is environmental pollution caused by harmful gases generated when fossil energy is used, and the third is global warming. Let’s take a look at the first problem, the limited amount of reserves. Based on the fossil energy usage in 1995, it is said that there are 43 years’ worth of oil, 65 years’ worth of natural gas, and 228 years’ worth of coal reserves. Moreover, many experts predict that the depletion of fossil energy will come sooner than expected because energy consumption is increasing due to population growth and industrial development. Therefore, many predict that fossil fuels will soon be exhausted. Such limited resources make it urgent to prepare for future generations and increase the need to develop resources that can replace them and find ways to use energy efficiently.
The second problem, environmental pollution caused by harmful gases, is caused by carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, sulfur oxide, etc. that are generated when fossil fuels are burned. These gases basically cause air pollution. Air pollution interferes with the lives of people and many animals and plants. A typical example of air pollution is smog. Acid rain, which is the release of pollutants into the air and then dissolves into water, also occurs. This acid rain not only adversely affects the aquatic organisms that live in rivers and lakes, but also leaves bad elements in the soil.
Finally, there is the issue of global warming. Gases such as carbon dioxide, which are caused by the indiscriminate use of fossil fuels, accumulate in the atmosphere. These gases interfere with the release of thermal energy from the sun, causing the average temperature of the Earth to rise. The greenhouse effect’s ripple effects include the melting of permafrost, rising sea levels due to melting glaciers, and the destruction of food chains. As a result, climate change phenomena such as ocean ecosystem transformation, heat waves, droughts, and floods are occurring frequently, and this is rapidly becoming a global environmental problem. These problems are driving the global search for new energy sources to replace fossil fuels.
As we have seen above, fossil fuels are an important and essential part of our lives due to their supply and demand, convenience, and popularity. However, despite these advantages, global trends are shifting toward replacing fossil fuels. Many experts argue that fossil fuels should be replaced as soon as possible. For example, former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev proposed nuclear energy as an alternative to fossil fuels, saying, “Developing countries such as China and India, which have large populations, are on the path to rapid economic growth. These countries will need a lot of energy. Therefore, nuclear energy must be developed.”
Alternative energy sources that can replace fossil fuels include solar, hydro, nuclear, and wind power. Unlike fossil fuels, alternative energy can be generated infinitely and is relatively less polluting, so it is being continuously developed. In fact, in South Korea, some city buses are being replaced with electric buses to protect the environment. Although the proportion of alternative energy is still smaller than that of fossil fuels, it is on the rise. Several engineers are working to make this change happen faster and more efficiently.
