Advantages and Disadvantages of Fossil Fuels: We live on Earth which is our natural habitat. Today we all know how Earth keeps on changing its features and its beauty. One of the factors that our Earth is changing its scenic beauty is human activities, which have always adversely affected it in many ways like polluting the environment, degrading its quality and mismanagement of natural resources.
Nature has provided us with abundant gifts like land, water, air and many more which have been continuously degraded by humans. One such gift of nature is fossil fuels which have been used by humans for one or the other purpose. Therefore we need to know how these fossil fuels can be used without harming our environment. Before knowing fossil fuel’s advantages and disadvantages let us know -What are actually these fossil fuels?
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What are Fossil Fuels? Advantages and Disadvantages Of Fossil Fuels 2022
Matter formed from fossilised, buried remains of plants and animals that lived or existed millions of years ago on our Earth is called Fossil fuel. Coal, natural gas and crude oil are considered Fossil fuels. These fuels contain carbon and hydrogen elements that help them to burn and produce energy i.e. heat and are lightly used for multiple purposes by humans like in steel plants, electricity generation, running vehicles and many more.
On the other hand Fossil fuels also produce a lot of smoke of SO2 (sulphur dioxide) causing acid rain, CO2 (carbon dioxide) causing air pollution and these non-renewable resources thus it is going to be reduced with single-use. After considering fossil fuels now let us know what are its advantages and disadvantages.
- Advantages of Fossil Fuel
- Disadvantages of Fossil Fuels
- Comparison Table for Advantages And Disadvantages of Fossil Fuels
- FAQ’s on Pros and Cons of Fossil Fuels
Advantages of Fossil Fuel
Fossil fuels are used by almost all humans for multiple purposes. Petroleum, coal and natural gas are widely used energy resources. Almost 80% of it is used by humans for their regular needs. But nowadays many alternatives to it has also been used as Fossil fuel adversely affect the environment. Therefore we must understand the advantages and disadvantages of fossil fuel in order to make sustainable use of it.
Listed are a few advantages of fossil fuels:
- Available abundantly in our environment
- Available at a cheaper rate
- Easy to store and transport
- Boost up the economy of a nation
- Power stations can be built almost anywhere
Available abundantly in our environment: Fossil fuels are available almost in all parts of the world and many plants and power stations are built to generate electricity which is used in every household and factory. These abundant supplies are limited to exhaustibility. Once exhausted these fossil resources could not be retrieved back from the environment.
Available at a cheaper rate: These Fossil fuels are available at cheap rates that are affordable to many households and factories. As they said to be cost-effective and thus used worldwide.
Easy to store and transport: Fossil fuels can easily be transported from one place to another example coal and petroleum products are transported through trucks and trains, while natural gas is transported from one place to another through pipelines. It is also stored in containers like LPG is stored in cylinders.
Boost up the economy of a nation: Fossil fuels are considered as national assets as they now only give support to households but also it is the backbone to many factories and industries as they provide electricity which is one of the important energy sources to produce any material. Also, these industries are feeders to many countries as they supply resources and thus increase the economy of a nation by earning foreign currencies.
Power stations can be built almost anywhere: Power stations required to extract energy from these fossils can be built almost in any part of the nation as transport facilities are also easily available and people according to their convenience can build power stations at any site.
Disadvantages of Fossil Fuels
Now let’s see a few disadvantages or cons of Fossil fuels
- Fossils are non-renewable resources
- It pollutes the environment
- Unsustainable
- These are hazardous in nature
- The residue remaining after combustion is also harmful to the environment.
Fossils are non-renewable resources: These resources can be used once the nature of fossil fuel is they are non-renewable. They are exhaustible in nature and if they will be extensively used by the people for different purposes then they may be extinct also.
It pollutes the environment: Fossils consist of carbon elements. During combustion, fossils produce gases like SO2, CO2 which pollutes our environment and also lead to global warming. Thus fossils once exhausted are not recoverable also lead to environmental pollution.
Unsustainable: Fossils are exhausted with a single-use also it is a non-renewable source of energy. Once used it is neither recoverable nor available in nature for the future thus it is cannot be sustained. Thus we have to choose to make sustainable use of it so that it can be used by future generations.
These are hazardous in nature: Fossils are generally combustible in nature it consist of carbon and hydrogen elements which help them to burn. But sometimes it may also become hazardous because of sudden accidents or negligence by people.
The residue remaining after combustion is also harmful to the environment: Residue after combustion of fossil fuel gets mixed with soil and water and make it polluted in turn harming the environment. Thus fossil fuel must be used with great care.
Comparison Table for Advantages And Disadvantages of Fossil Fuels
| Advantages of Fossil fuels | Disadvantages of Fossil fuels |
| Fossil fuels are available abundantly in our environment | Fossils are non-renewable resources |
| Fossil fuels are available at a cheaper rate | Fossil fuels are responsible to pollute the environment |
| Fossil fuels are easy to store and transport | Fossil fuels are unsustainable |
| Fossil fuels boost up the economy of a nation | Fossil fuels are hazardous in nature |
| Power stations can be built almost anywhere | The residue remaining after combustion is also harmful to the environment. |
FAQ’s on Pros and Cons of Fossil Fuels
Question 1.
What are Fossil fuels?
Answer:
Matter formed from fossilised, buried remains of plants and animals that lived or existed millions of years ago on our Earth is called Fossil fuel. Coal, natural gas and crude oil are considered Fossil fuels.
Question 2.
What are the advantages of fossil fuels?
Answer:
Available abundantly in our environment
- Available at a cheaper rate
- Easy to store and transport
- Boost up the economy of a nation
- Power stations can be built almost anywhere
Question 3.
What are the disadvantages of fossil fuels?
Answer:
Fossils are non-renewable resources
- It pollutes the environment
- Unsustainable
- These are hazardous in nature
- Residue remained after combustion is also harmful to the environment