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Why Are Fossil Fuels Disappearing?

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, fossil fuels account for about 85 percent of the country's energy needs each year. Although fossil fuels are fairly plentiful as of 2010, scientists expect the world to run out of, or face a severe shortage of them, by the year 2100, claims Discovering Fossils. Fossil fuels could disappear at an even faster rate because of the world's dependence on them and the fact they are not renewable.

  1. Time Frame

    • It takes organic matter hundreds of millions of years of sitting under intense heat and pressure to form fossil fuels, according to Canada's EnergyQuest. Most fossil fuels---oil, gas and coal---formed roughly 300 million years ago during the Carboniferous Period. This makes fossil fuels nonrenewable.

    Function

    • Fossil fuels are used in just about every sector of industry and society. Gasoline, for example, accounts for 17 percent of energy needs in the United States and almost half of all crude oil use, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Also, most plastics require crude oil, and people heat their homes with some fuel, or electricity made from fuel.

    Alternatives

    • Although governments pour millions into alternative energy research, renewable energies tend to be cost prohibitive. According to Live Science, a solar energy system that provides just 50 percent of an average family's energy needs, for example, will set them back between $35,000 to $52,000. Renewable energy systems can pay for themselves, but it may take more than a decade---too much time for many families.

    Peak Oil

    • Sometimes, the world experiences an oil crisis, such as during the mid-1970s when Middle East oil producing nations enacted an embargo against the United States, due to political and economic factors. However, according to Fox News, the world will eventually reach "peak oil"---where prices rise rapidly and reserves decline because the world has used more than half of its oil. Intensified oil exploration efforts could push this back, but it is inevitable.

    Benefits

    • Fossil fuels have dominated the energy sector since the Industrial Revolution, but they are also partly responsible for drastic climate change called global warming. The byproducts from fossil fuel combustion increase pollution in our atmosphere, which warms the earth and changes ecosystems. Governments often to give rebates to people who use renewable energies to stop this.

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