Fossil Fuels

Question: What are fossil fuels?

Answer: Fossil fuels are combustible materials such as oil, natural gas, coal, and other petroleum products that were formed from decayed plants, animals, and other organic materials and organisms that lived and died millions of years ago.

Question: How did fossil fuels form?

Answer: Many scientists believe that fossil fuels were formed when organic materials that contained energy from sunlight changed due to chemical and biological activity, along with pressure from within the earth's crust over a certain period of time.

Question: Where are fossil fuels found?

Answer: Fossil fuels are found underground on continents, islands, and under ocean and sea beds all around the world. At certain locations, such as at the Le Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, California, oil has seeped up through holes in the earth and formed pools of thick tar on the surface.

Question: Is there an indefinite supply of fossil fuels?

Answer: Many experts believe that fossil fuels have peaked, and at the current rate of usage, the earth's supply of oil and gas will run out in the not to distant future.

Question: How can the supply of fossil fuels be prolonged?

Answer: Prolonging the supply of fossil fuels can only be accomplished by conservation and with the creation of other sources of usable energy.

Question: With more and more cars being driven on our streets and highways, where will the fuels to power them come from?

Answer: Scientists are hard at work testing and developing other kinds of fuels, such as ethanol and other bio fuels made from corn, sugarcane, and other plants to power cars, trucks, boats and airplanes.

Question: What are car manufacturers doing to help with the looming decline in fossil fuels?

Answer: For many years, auto makers have built cars and trucks with more fuel efficient engines and they are building them lighter and with more aerodynamic designs do decrease the use of gas and oil.

Manufacturers and building cars that have engines that are designed to use blended combinations of gasoline and ethanol, cars and trucks that run on electrical energy, hydrogen, solar, and battery power.

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