Fossil Fuels Disadvantages

What are Fossil Fuels Disadvantages?

According to U.S Department of Energy, Fossil fuels comprise major percent of the energy production and consumption. Though Fossil Fuels are cheap to process and relatively widely available.

The U.S Environmental Protection Agency warns that they’re not renewable and can’t be replenished.

Some of the notable Fossil Fuels disadvantages are :

– Fossil Fuels are not renewable- Fossil fuels like Coal and natural gas are natural resources. The cannot be replenished once exhausted and have limited availability. The California Energy Commission estimates that the current known reserves of fossil fuels like oil will be depleted within 70 years, as of 2002.  Chances of depletion are high and cannot be neglected.

– Health risks associated with the usage of fossil fuels – Combustion of Fossil fuels contribute to air pollution by releasing toxic gases into the air and contaminating the air.

– Emission of foul gases leads to global warming and greenhouse effect by trapping air like CO2 that contrribute to Climate change by affecting the retaining of Sun’s energy in the way it is reflected in the atmosphere. More than half of the petroleum is imported from other countries that might pose a security challenge for the U.S thereby threatening national security.

– Exhaustion of Fossil fuels- Fossil fuels are present in limited quantities on the surface of the earth. Exhaustion of Fossil fuels is a major issue thereby limiting its future availability and sustainability.

Image Credit: Kris Krüg/DeSmogBlog