Fossil energy, consisting of oil, coal, and natural gas, is an essential source of power for modern society, but it also poses problems such as limited reserves, environmental pollution, and global warming. For this reason, there is a growing need to develop sustainable alternatives to fossil energy, and the world is gradually moving towards a transition to green energy as an alternative to fossil energy.
As long as we breathe and live, a large amount of fossil energy is used around the world. Many people don’t realize it, but fossil energy has become an integral part of our lives. If fossil energy were to disappear for an instant, the world would be thrown into chaos. What is it about fossil energy that makes it so intertwined with our lives?
First, let’s look at the dictionary definition of fossil energy: fossil fuels, or fossil energy, are fuels derived from the remains of plants and animals buried in the earth’s crust and fossilized over time. Common fossil fuels include oil, coal, and natural gas. Fossil energy is used in many ways we don’t even realize, and it is deeply intertwined with our daily lives, from the electricity we use to heat our homes and run our factories to the transportation we use. This means that fossil energy is not just used for industrial purposes, but has a profound impact on people’s very lives.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 45% of South Korea’s energy consumption comes from oil, 26% from coal, and 14% from natural gas. As you can see, the majority of the energy we use is fossil energy. Fossil energy is the remains of plants and animals that were buried in the earth’s crust long ago and were unable to access oxygen in the air, and after a long period of decay and chemical reactions, the hydrocarbons they produced became the fossil fuels we use today. Today, we mine, process, and use this energy on demand to power our economies and lives.
Let’s take a closer look at the main fossil energy sources we use: oil, coal, and natural gas. Oil is the most common fossil energy we use. Petroleum is made by separating crude oil into petroleum gas, naphtha, kerosene, diesel, heavy oil, and asphalt through fractional distillation using boiling point differences. Each type of petroleum is used for different purposes depending on its properties. Naphtha is used in our cars, and kerosene is used to fuel airplanes. Asphalt is used to pave roads. Oil reserves are concentrated in a few countries, with Saudi Arabia having the most crude oil reserves, accounting for 25.2% of the total. The Middle East region, including Saudi Arabia, accounts for 65.2% of the total. For this reason, there are many people in the Middle East who have gotten rich in the oil business, and we often refer to them as “oil tycoons,” “oil princes,” and so on. Oil is a highly volatile commodity due to high demand and limited production. Because so many industries use oil, these price fluctuations have a huge impact on the global economy.
Coal, the second largest source of fossil energy, is used in many places because it is cheap. Coal is categorized into two main types: anthracite and bituminous. Anthracite is a type of coal that burns well and produces no smoke, which means it doesn’t catch fire easily, but it maintains a constant temperature and produces a strong fire. In the past, people used anthracite for cooking and heating because of these properties, but in recent years, demand has been declining in favor of oil due to the risk of harmful gas leaks. Unlike anthracite, bituminous coal burns with a characteristic odor. It is easy to ignite and can reach high temperatures in an instant, making it the main fuel for the coal chemical industry. Bituminous coal in particular is an important raw material for the steel industry, and large steel mills consume large amounts of coal, so any increase or decrease in global steel production has a significant impact on coal demand.
Finally, natural gas is a naturally occurring gas that is released from oil fields and coal mines, and includes methane and ethane. Methane gas is the simplest hydrocarbon gas and exists as a gas at room temperature. It is the main raw material for LNG. Ethane gas exists in much smaller quantities than methane and is mainly used in buses that run on domestic or natural gas. In the past, it was not used much due to the inconvenience of transportation, but in recent years, its use has increased due to advances in the technology to liquefy natural gas. As an example of this, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has raised its forecast for U.S. natural gas production this year. Natural gas plays a particularly important role in electricity generation, which is increasingly recognized as an energy source for reducing greenhouse gas emissions because it produces relatively fewer carbon emissions than traditional coal- or oil-based power generation.
There are three main problems with fossil energy. The first is the finite amount of fossil energy reserves, the second is the environmental pollution caused by harmful gases generated when using fossil energy, and the third is global warming. Let’s take a look at the first problem: limited reserves. According to an analysis based on fossil energy usage in 1995, there are only 43 years of oil, 65 years of natural gas, and 228 years of coal reserves. Moreover, because energy consumption is increasing with population growth and industrial development, many experts believe that fossil energy will be depleted sooner rather than later. Therefore, there are many predictions that we will soon run out of fossil energy. This limited resource makes it urgent to prepare for future generations, and increases the need to develop alternative resources and find ways to use energy efficiently.
The second problem, environmental pollution by harmful gases, is caused by carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and other gases produced during the combustion of fossil fuels. These gases basically cause air pollution. Air pollution disrupts the lives of people and many plants and animals. A typical example of air pollution is smog. It also causes acid rain, which is when pollutants released into the air dissolve into water. This acid rain not only affects the aquatic life that lives in rivers and lakes, but it also leaves bad elements in the soil.
Finally, there’s the issue of global warming. Gases such as carbon dioxide, which are produced by the indiscriminate use of fossil fuels, accumulate in the atmosphere. These gases prevent the release of thermal energy from the sun, causing the average temperature of the planet to rise. The ripple effects of the greenhouse effect include melting ice caps, rising sea levels due to melting glaciers, and disruption of food chains. As a result, marine ecosystems are being altered and climate change events such as heat waves, droughts, and floods are becoming more frequent, making them a growing global environmental concern. These issues have led to a growing global movement to find new energy alternatives to fossil energy.
As we’ve seen, fossil energy is ubiquitous and important to our lives due to its supply and demand, convenience, and popularity. However, despite these advantages, the world has recently been shifting towards replacing fossil energy. Many experts argue that we need to replace fossil energy as soon as possible. For example, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev advocated nuclear energy as an alternative to fossil energy, saying, “Developing countries such as China and India, which have large populations, are on a path of steep economic growth. They will need enormous amounts of energy, so they should develop nuclear energy.”
Alternative energy sources to fossil energy include solar, hydroelectric, nuclear, and wind power. Unlike fossil energy, alternative energies are not only infinitely renewable, but they are also less polluting, and they are constantly being developed. In fact, in South Korea, some city buses are being converted to electricity-powered buses to protect the environment. The percentage of alternative energy is still smaller than fossil energy, but it’s growing. Engineers are working to make this change faster and more efficient.
