Fossil fuels

Abstract

The recovery, handling and combustion of fossil fuels is damaging the environment. This damage may ultimately cause many plant and animal species to become extinct. If we continue to increase our use of fossil fuels for energy production, humanity may ultimately become one of the species that perish. This is an overwhelming reason to stop the use of fossil fuels as our main energy source. If long-range survival is deemed inadequate to make profound near-term changes in the energy infrastructure, then a second powerful justification comes from the need to conserve the unique substances in fossil fuels for future higher-value use as chemical feed-stocks. These two drives, one to stop using fossil fuels because they cause damage, and the second to save the fossil materials for higher-value use, constitute a powerful motivation to terminate the burning of fossil fuels. We must find new sources of energy. It is shown here that a large part of current environmental damage is a direct result of the use of fossil fuels as our main energy source,and that the materials found in fossil fuels are much more valuable as chemical feedstocks, from which high value products are made.