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Fossil Fuel Worksheet

Introduction:

Fossil fuels such as petroleum, natural gas and coal formed hundreds of millions of years ago. They formed from organisms that died and became buried under layers of sediment. Depending on the types of organisms that were buried and the temperature and pressure that those remains experienced different fossil fuels formed over time. Even if we could recreate the conditions needed to produce new fossil fuels it would take millions of years for our efforts to pay off. Because fossil fuels cannot be replenished as quickly as they are used they are considered nonrenewable resources. If alternatives are not found the question is not if we will run out of fossil fuels but when.

Today over 80 percent of American energy needs are supplied by fossil fuels. The most heavily used fuel is petroleum or oil which provides almost 40 percent of our energy needs. In this activity you will see how the United States oil consumption compares to other countries, how the amount of available oil has changed over the past 100 years, how the price of oil has fluctuated and how our dependency on oil has impacted our environment through the output of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.

Questions:

1)Name 3 different fossil fuels:

  1. ______
  2. ______
  3. ______

2)Are fossil fuels renewable or non-renewable?

3)Draw a picture showing how coal forms (from power point) :

4)What is peat? How does peat form?

5)What environmental problem do fossil fuels cause?

Part 1: Which country consumes the most amount of oil?

  • Using the data below construct a graph that shows which country is consuming the most amount of oil
  • Plot the country on the X-Axis and the amount of barrels per day on the Y-Axis
  • Make a bar graph:

Country / Barrels of oil consumed per day
United States / 19,150,000
China / 9,400,000
Japan / 4,452,000
India / 3,182,000
Saudi Arabia / 2,643,000
Germany / 2,495,000
Canada / 2,209,000
Russia / 2,199,000
South Korea / 2,195,000
Mexico / 2,073,000
Brazil / 2,029,000
France / 1,861,000
Iran / 1,845,000
United Kingdom / 1,622,000
Italy / 1,528,000

Questions:

1)Which country consumes the most amount of oil?

2)Do you think that country has a responsibility to restrict its oil usage? What can you do to restrict your own fossil fuel usage?

3)Draw a picture showing how oil forms (page 281)

Part 2: How is the overall oil consumption affecting the environment?

  • Using the data below construct a graph that shows how the world’s carbon dioxide levels are being affected by consumption of oil
  • Plot the year on the X-Axis and the carbon dioxide level on the Y-Axis
  • Make a line graph:

Year / World Average CO2 Output (ppm)
1960 / 316
1965 / 320
1970 / 326.3
1975 / 331.2
1980 / 339.9
1985 / 345.9
1990 / 355.6
1995 / 360.9
2000 / 371.0
2005 / 379.7
2010 / 383.6

Questions:

1)As humans continued to burn more and more oil and natural resources what has happened to the world’s carbon dioxide output?

2)How can the world’s carbon dioxide content be harmful to the environment?

3)Is there anything misleading about the above graph?

Part 3: Past and projected availability of fossil fuels?

  • Using the data below construct a graph that shows how the amount of available fossil fuels has changed through time
  • Plot the year on the X-Axis and the amount of available fossil fuels on the Y-Axis
  • Make a line graph:

Year / Amount of fossil fuels (quadrillion BTU’s) / Year / Amount of fossil fuels (quadrillion BTU’s)
1600 / 0 / 2050 / 95
1650 / 0 / 2100 / 80
1700 / 0 / 2150 / 30
1750 / 0 / 2200 / 15
1800 / 0 / 2250 / 0
1850 / 0 / 2300 / 0
1900 / 10 / 2350 / 0
1950 / 35 / 2400 / 0
2000 / 80 / 2450 / 0

Questions:

1)Is the amount of available fossil fuels currently increasing or decreasing?

2)When the world is depleted of fossil fuels what alternate energy resource (wind, hydroelectric, nuclear, solar, geothermal) do you think the United States should utilize?