Features of fossil fuels

Chemical energy

Easy to store and convert into heat energy that is usually required for most applications

High energy density

Makes them very useful for many applications

Applications of fossil fuels due to high energy density

* Smelting of metal ores
* Electricity generation
* Vehicles including cars, trains, and planes

Finite

Exploitation means that they must eventually become depleted

Available resource

Total quantity available is very large, but many deposits aren’t exploitable with current technology or economic conditions

Level of technological development

Industrial societies have developed using fossil fuels so technologies used to exploit them are similarly well-developed. This means many changes must be made to the world’s infrastructure.