Fossil Fuels

Fossil fuels are protected from rapid degradation and extinction as a result of phytoplankton and zooplankton living in seas and lakes and terrestrial plant residues accumulating in H2S-rich, oxygen-free environments, rapidly covering them with sediments and sinking into the ground. These organic-origin residues begin to decompose and be transformed by first aerobic bacteria at shallow depths and then anaerobic bacteria that use oxygen to a minimum. As a result, organic residues remain underground for millions of years and undergo various chemical and biochemical transformations and turn into fossil energy sources. Fossil fuels can be divided into two main groups as conventional (petroleum, coal, and natural gas) and non-conventional (bituminous shale, asphalt, asphaltite, gas hydrate, shale/rock gas, and coal gases). Although fossil fuels have many disadvantages, such as air pollution, it is thought that their importance will continue in the next 50 years. For example, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) data, the share of fossil fuels, which constitute 81% of the world’s primary energy resources, in 2040 will decrease to 79% if current energy policies are continued. According to recent projections of IEA, in 2040, the share of coal in the primary energy demand will be 28.6% with the continuation of the current energy policies. Although there are significant differences in oil and natural gas share in 2040, it is estimated that the share of oil will be 27%, and the share of natural gas will be 24%. Again, expectations show that the share of nuclear energy in energy resources will increase. While the share of nuclear energy in primary energy resources is 4.8% in the current situation, it is expected to increase to 5.3% in 2040 according to the current energy policies and the continuation scenario. It is predicted that the share of renewable energy sources in 2040 will be 12.8%. The amount of energy used for electricity generation is expected to increase by 70%, with an annual average of 2%, until 2040, which corresponds to 42% of the global primary energy growth rate. An increase of 81% is predicted in the primary energy consumption used in industry; this ratio accounts for 50% of the world’s primary energy growth rate. Population growth, urban development, and industrialization can be cited as the reasons for increasing world primary energy resource consumption.