Fossil fuels developed from ancient deposits of organic material, and thus can be thought of as a vast store of solar energy from which society meets >80% of its current energy needs. Here, using published biological, geochemical, and industrial data, I estimate the amount of photosynthetically fixed and stored carbon that was required to form the coal, oil, and gas that we are burning today. Today's average U.S. Gallon (3.8 L) of gasoline required approximately 90 metric tons of ancient plant matter as precursor material. The fossil fuels burned in 1997 were created from organic matter containing 44 × 1018 g C, which is>400 times the net primary productivity (NPP) of the planet's current biota. As stores of ancient solar energy decline, humans are likely to use an increasing share of modern solar resources. I conservatively estimate that replacing the energy humans derive from fossil fuels with energy from modern biomass would require 22% of terrestrial NPP, increasing the human appropriation of this resource by ∼50%.

This chapter discusses the evolution in uses of fossil fuels, primary electricity, and renewable energy. It first considers the transition from phytomass fuels to fossil fuels and how it resulted in the substantial increase in per capita consumption of energy. It then explores the beginnings and diffusion of coal extraction, the replacement of charcoal by metallurgical coke, and the introduction of steam engines and oil and internal combustion engines. It also looks at technical innovations brought by the transition from phytomass fuels to fossil fuels and from animate to mechanical prime movers, focusing on trends in the production of coal, hydrocarbons, and electricity as well as renewable energy and the use of prime movers in transportation.

The concentration of carbon in living matter (18%) is almost 100 times greater than its concentration in the earth (0.19%). So living things extract carbon from their nonliving environment. For life to continue, this carbon must be recycled.[2] See the diagram for a detailed look at the carbon cycle. An example of a route carbon takes in this cycle is carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is absorbed by plants and used in photosynthesis to produce sugars which the plant uses for energy. When the plant dies, it decomposes and the carbon stored in the plant will, over millions of years, form into coal (a fossil fuel). The coal is burnt and gives off carbon dioxide which goes into the atmosphere. At the moment, the carbon cycle, and how human activity is affecting it, is a big topic in international news. Fossil fuels are a non-renewable resource which means that they cannot be replaced easily. Our use of fossil fuels has nearly doubled every 20 years since 1900.[3] This release of carbon dioxide contributes to the greenhouse effect and acid rain. The carbon cycle was discovered by Joseph Priestley and Antoine Lavoisier, and popularized by Humphry Davy.

Jules Verne (1828-1905), author of Around the World in Eighty Days (1873) and Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), wrote in 1875: "I believe that water will one day be used as a fuel, because the hydrogen and oxygen which constitute it, used separately or together, will furnish an inexhaustible source of heat and light. I therefore believe that, when coal (oil) deposits are oxidised, we will heat ourselves by means of water. Water is the fuel of the future". Solar energy is the only renewable energy source that has sufficient capacity for the global energy need; it is the only one that can address the issues of energy crisis and global climate change. A vast amount of solar energy is harvested and stored via photosynthesis in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria since over 3 billion years. Today, it is estimated that photosynthesis produces more than 100 billion tons of dry biomass annually, which would be equivalent to a hundred times the weight of the total human population on our planet at the present time, and equal to a global energy storage rate of about 100 TW. The solar power is the most abundant source of renewable energy, and oxygenic photosynthesis uses this energy to power the planet using the amazing reaction of water splitting. During water splitting, driven ultimately by sunlight, oxygen is released into the atmosphere, and this, along with food production by photosynthesis, supports life on our earth. The other product of water oxidation is “hydrogen” (proto

viable than fossil fuels. For this reason, Singapore is reliant on fossil fuels to meet its … life. (Biomass is also the basis for the fossil fuels — from peat to coal to oil and natural … Flywheels 458 Food Miles 459 Forecasting 461 Fossil Fuels 464 France 469 Franklin, Benjamin 473 Fuel