5.02 Fossil Fuels

AP Environmental Science

What are common products derived from crude oil?

Gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, heating oil, lubricants, asphalt, and petrochemicals

How is natural gas formed?

Formed from ancient marine organisms under pressure and heat over millions of years

How is natural gas extracted?

Drilled from wells and often accessed using hydraulic fracturing (fracking)

What are advantages of natural gas?

Burns cleaner than coal and oil, less CO₂, efficient and electricity

What are disadvantages of natural gas?

Methane leaks, still emits greenhouse gases, fracking risks like groundwater contamination

What are the four types of coal from lowest to highest energy content?

Peat, lightbulb, bituminous, anthracite

How is coal extracted?

Through surface mining (strip mining, mountaintop removal) or subsurface mining (shaft mining)

How is coal purified?

Cleaned to remove sulfur and ash; use scrubbing and washing technologies

What are the advantages of coal?

abundant, inexpensive high energy output, reliable

What are the disadvantages of coal?

air pollution, and rain, habitat destruction, water contamination, greenhouse gases emissions

How does surface mining alter the environment?

Removes vegetation and topsoil, causes erosion, destroys habitats, can pollute water

How does subsurface mining alter the environment?

leads to subsidence, worker danger, and groundwater pollution

what is a domestic reserve of fossil fuels?

Fossil fuel resources found with a country that can be economically extracted

Where are major coal reserves in the. U.S.?

Wyoming, West Virginia, and Kentucky

Where are major oil reserves in the U.S.?

Texas, Alaska, and North Dakota (Bakken Formation)

Where are major natural gas reserves in the U.S.?

Shale formations like the Marcellus Shale and Appalachian Basin