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Before You Watch Our Lecture
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Our Lecture
Watch the Stanford course lecture.
Additional Resources
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Fast Facts About
Fossil Fuels
Principal Energy Uses: Electricity, Heat, Transportation
Form of Energy: Chemical
The three fossil fuels are oil, natural gas, and coal. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from deeply-buried, dead organic material subject to high temperature and pressure for hundreds of millions of years. They are a depletable, non-renewable energy resource.
Fossil fuel combustion (converting chemical energy into heat) powered the Industrial Revolution and is the largest contributor to climate change and air pollution. Significant infrastructure, economic value, geopolitical conflict, and legacy environmental issues are associated with fossil fuels.
Significance
Energy Mix
82% of world 🌎
82% of US 🇺🇸
Electricity Generation
60% of world 🌎
61% of US 🇺🇸
Fossil Fuel Dependence of Global End Uses
95% of transportation
>60% of heat
60% of electricity
is provided by fossil fuels
Change in Global Consumption
Increase:
⬆ 3%
(2017-2022)
GHG Emissions Attributed to Fossil Fuels
74% of world 🌎
82% of US 🇺🇸
Stages and Impacts of Fossil Fuel Utilization
Exploration and Extraction
Drilling and mining impact natural ecosystems and nearby communities.
Transportation, Storage, and Refining
Transportation of fossil fuels expends energy: coal is moved by rail, barge, or truck, while pressurized pipelines deliver natural gas and crude oil.
Oil requires refining into other petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel before it can be used. Refining is an extremely energy-intensive process.
Combustion and Post‑Combustion
Burning fossil fuels for electricity, heat, and transportation is one of the most polluting human activities, releasing greenhouse gases (CO2), air pollutants (NOx and SO2), and toxins. Power plants also use water for cooling.
After combustion, pollutants such as coal ash require management and disposal. Air pollutants can be removed from the smokestack.
Legacy Impacts and Issues
Abandoned infrastructure (mines, wells, and refineries) associated with all of the previous stages can cause ongoing environmental problems that outlast the production and use of fossil fuels.
Millions of oil and gas wells and coal mines that are no longer producing still remain. If not properly decontaminated and sealed, they continue polluting the environment.
Proved Fossil Fuel Reserves
Proved Oil Reserves
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Pie chart using 2020 data to show the countries in which global proved oil reserves are located. Canada total includes oil sands (95% of Canada's proved reserves).
70% of proved oil reserves are in OPEC nations: Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and Other OPEC.
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Pie chart using 2021 data to show the states in which US proved oil reserves are located.
70% of the US’s proved reserves are located in just 4 states - Texas (41%), North Dakota (11%), New Mexico (11%), and Alaska (8%).
Proved Natural Gas Reserves
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Pie chart using 2020 data to show the countries in which global proved natural gas reserves are located.
59% of proved reserves are concentrated in the Middle East and Russia.
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Pie chart using 2021 data to show the states in which US proved natural gas reserves are located.
Estimates of Pennsylvania's resources have increased ~30x since 2008 due to the Marcellus and Utica shales. The US is the largest producer and consumer of natural gas in the world.
Proved Coal Reserves
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Pie chart using 2021 data to show the countries in which global proved coal reserves are located.
Five countries have 75% of the world's proved coal reserves.
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Pie chart using 2022 data to show the states in which recoverable coal reserves are located.
75% of US proved coal reserves are located in just 4 states–Wyoming, Illinois, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.
Fossil Fuel Producers and Consumers
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Drivers
- Abundant and widely available
- Relatively low private costs (but high social and environmental costs are not factored into the price)
- Ongoing innovation in extraction drives down costs and increases available resources
- Government interventions (e.g., subsidies and low taxes) have significantly increased the growth of fossil fuel use (with huge social costs)
- Easy to store and transport (via pipeline, ship, rail, truck)
- Sunk cost and existing infrastructure motivate continued use
- When used for electricity generation, considered a flexible/dispatchable resource that can be ramped up and down based on needs of the electricity grid
- Few non-fossil substitutes for transportation fuels
Barriers
- Depletable and non-renewable
- Largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants
- Public health impacts near sites of fossil fuel production and consumption
- Fuel prices are volatile, reliant on geopolitical conditions
- Legacy issues with abandoned infrastructure (e.g., wells, mines, pipelines, refineries) and solid waste (e.g., mine tailings, metal catalysts used in refining, coal ash)
- Many other externalities, including oil spills, methane leakage, water use and contamination, inter-state conflict
Climate Impact: High
- Carbon emissions released during fossil fuel combustion are the single-largest driver of climate change
- Methane leakage during oil, natural gas, and coal extraction or from natural gas pipelines
Environmental Impact: High
- Fossil fuel combustion is a major source of air pollution: SO2 (acid rain), NOx (acid rain and smog), CO, particulate matter, and toxins (e.g., mercury)
- Habitat destruction during extraction, water contamination during transportation, high water use in combustion
Before You Watch Our Lecture On
Introduction to Fossil Fuels
We assign videos and readings to our Stanford students as pre-work for each lecture to help contextualize the lecture content. We strongly encourage you to review the Essential videos and readings below before watching our lecture onIntroduction to Fossil Fuels. Include selections from theOptional and Useful list based on your interests and available time.
Essential
- Fossil Fuels 101. Student Energy. May 17, 2015. (2 min)
An overview of how coal, oil, and natural gas are formed, used, and extracted. - History of Fossil Fuels. Stanford Understand Energy. October 3, 2022. (27 min)
An introduction to the history of fossil fuels. - Oil and Gas Formation. EarthScience WesternAustralia. September 5, 2014. (3 min)
A visualization of how oil and gas deposits are formed and the methods used to explore them. - Oil and Natural Gas Resource Categories Reflect Varying Degrees of Certainty. EIA Today in Energy. July 17, 2014. (2 pages)
An overview of the four categories in which oil and natural gas resources are defined. - Fossil Fuels for Kids. Learn Bright. November 11, 2019. (12 min)
Smile and channel your inner child on this one. - 300 Years of Fossil Fuels in 300 Seconds. Post Carbon Institute. November 8, 2010. (5 min)
An overview of the many ways we rely on fossil fuels and a look at transitioning to a post-carbon future. - Why Are Fossil Fuels So Hard to Quit?. Gross, Samantha. The Brookings Institution. June 2020. (17 pages)
An overview of fossil fuel energy systems and factors involved in moving toward low-carbon energy sources. - US Fossil Fuel Consumption by Source and Sector, 2023. EIA Monthly Energy Review. 2024. (2 pages)
A visual representation of how fossil fuels are consumed in the United States.
Optional and Useful
- Petroleum. NEED.org. 2023. (4 pages)
An introduction to petroleum from the National Energy Education Development (NEED) project. - Overview of the Petroleum Industry - Part I. GulfPublishingCo. August 18, 2009. (8 min)
Fundamentals of the oil and gas industry. An oldie but goodie. - Energy Crisis: What Can 1973 Teach Us?. The Economist. January 12, 2023. (15 min)
An overview of the 1973 oil embargo and its geopolitical relevance today.
Our Lecture on
Introduction to Fossil Fuels
This is our Stanford University Understand Energy course lecture that introduces fossil fuel energy resources: coal, oil, and natural gas. We strongly encourage you to watch the full lecture to understand the origins of fossil fuels, how they work, and their significant role in the global energy landscape. For a complete learning experience, we also encourage you to watch / read the Essential videos and readings we assign to our students before watching the lecture.
Presented by: Jane Woodward, Adjunct Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University; Founder and Managing Partner, WovenEarth Ventures; Founding Partner, MAP Energy
Recorded on: October 2, 2023 Duration: 30 minutes
Table of Contents
(Clicking on a link will take you to YouTube.)
00:00 Introduction
03:35 Relevance and Origin
18:36 Resources and Reserves
24:41 Environmental Impacts
Lecture slides available upon request.
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Additional Resources About
Fossil Fuels
Stanford University
- Basin Processes and Subsurface Modeling Industrial Affiliates Program
- Stephan Graham - Enhanced oil recovery, natural gas
- Roland Horne - Enhanced oil recovery, unconventional oil & gas
- Ilenia Battiato - Enhanced oil recovery, unconventional oil & gas
- Adam Brandt - Unconventional oil & gas, natural gas
- Environmental Assessment and Optimization (EAO) Group
- Earth System Science Department
- Rob Jackson - Unconventional oil & gas, natural gas
Government and International Organizations
- International Energy Agency (IEA) Fossil Fuels
- US Energy Information Administration (EIA) Petroleum, Natural Gas, Coal
- US Energy Information Administration (EIA) Today in Energy Oil, Natural Gas, Coal
- US Geological Survey (USGS). Fossil Fuels Research
- US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Oil and Gas Sector Information
- US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Coal-Fired Power Plant Enforcement
- US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Oil, Natural Gas
- US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Coal, Oil and Gas
- US Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Division of Energy and Mineral Development
- US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Oil and Gas Energy
- US Office of Fossil Fuels and Carbon Management (FECM)
History
- The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power - Daniel Yergin (1991) 9-part video, also as a book
- History of Oil - Robert Newman (2007) 8-part video
- Winning the Oil End Game – Innovation for Profits, Jobs, and Security - Amory Lovins, et al., Rocky Mountain Institute (2004)
- Coal: A Human History - Barbara Freese (2003)find at a library near you
- Part 1: The Story of Energy Wait But Why (June 2, 2015)
Other Organizations and Resources
- Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy Oil, Natural Gas, and Coal Chapters (great resource for fossil fuel production and consumption data)
- National Energy Education Development (NEED) Petroleum, Natural Gas, Coal
- World Bank Fossil Fuel Energy Consumption
- Our World in Data Fossil Fuels
- Kimray Bbl, BOE, BTU, Mcf and Other Common Oil and Gas Abbreviations
- Mineralwise Mineral Rights by State
Next Topic: Prospecting for Oil and Natural GasOther Energy Topics to Explore
Fast Facts Sources
- Energy Mix (World 2022): Energy Institute. Statistical Review of World Energy. 2023.
- Energy Mix (US 2022): US Energy Information Agency (EIA). Total Energy: Energy Overview, Table 1.3.
- Electricity Mix (World 2022): Energy Institute. Statistical Review of World Energy. 2023.
- Electricity Mix (US 2022): US Energy Information Agency (EIA). Total Energy: Electricity, Table 7.2a.
- Dependence of Global End Uses on Fossil Fuels (Transportation 2022): International Energy Agency (IEA). Energy Consumption in Transport by Fuel in the Net Zero Scenario, 1975-2030. June 15, 2023.
- Dependence of Global End Uses on Fossil Fuels (Heat 2022): International Energy Agency (IEA). Heating: Tracking. 2023.
- Dependence of Global End Uses on Fossil Fuels (Electricity 2022): Energy Institute. Statistical Review of World Energy. 2023.
- Change in Global Consumption (2017-2022): Energy Institute. Statistical Review of World Energy. 2023.
- GHG Emissions Attributed to Fossil Fuels (World 2020): World Resources Institute (WRI). Climate Watch Historical Country Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data. 2022; International Energy Agency (IEA). Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Energy Data Explorer: Fugitive Emissions, Total GHG Emissions from Energy per Product. 2023. August 2, 2023.
- GHG Emissions Attributed to Fossil Fuels (US 2022): US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Inventory of US Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks 1990-2022. 2024.
- Proved Oil and Natural Gas Reserves (World 2020): Energy Institute. Statistical Review of World Energy. 2023.
- Proved Oil and Natural Gas Reserves (US 2021): US Energy Information Agency (EIA). US Crude Oil and Natural Gas Proved Reserves, Year-End 2021. December 30, 2022.
- Proved Coal Reserves (World 2021): US Energy Information Agency (EIA). Coal Explained: How Much Coal is Left, What is the Amount of World Coal Reserves?. October 19, 2022.
- Proved Coal Reserves (US 2022): US Energy Information Agency (EIA). Annual Coal Report 2022, Table 14. October 2023.
- Fossil Fuel Producers (World 2021): US Energy Information Agency (EIA). Total Energy Production Rankings. 2023.
- Fossil Fuel Consumers (World 2022): Energy Institute. Statistical Review of World Energy Data, Primary Energy: Consumption by Fuel Type - Exajoules (2021 and 2022). 2023.
More details available on request.
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