Pollution is a common term used to highlight and identify significant pollutants and their multiple sources. Since the Industrial Revolution, factories, industries, and enterprises are burning fossil fuels to generate power and energy. The burning of fossil fuels directly impacts the habitat and natural environment around us. However, it is vital to understand the need to produce green energy to reduce carbon emissions and radiation. According to the recent survey of 2020, around 45% of the energy produced in the UK was generated through renewable processes and environmentally friendly techniques.
What are Fossil Fuels?
Fossils fuels are produced when plants and animal matter decompose under extreme heat and pressure underground. After a significant time, fossil fuels convert into raw coal, extracted through mining and drilling methods. Fossil fuels produce hydrocarbons such as Oil and Natural Gas that can be burnt to produce energy for various purposes. Every year, metric tons of coal and oil are burnt to produce energy for industrial and mechanical processes.
How Do Fossil Fuels Affect Our Natural Environment?
By nature, there is 21% of Oxygen and 0.03% of Carbon dioxide in the air. The excessive burning of fossil fuels impacts the natural composition of air and pollutes the natural environment. Fossil fuels contain derivatives of hydrocarbons, which produce carbon dioxide on burning. Carbon dioxide emissions disturb the natural atmosphere and create a warming effect, contributing to global warming and pollution. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that traps incoming radiation from the sun and significantly increases global temperatures. Below listed are the types of pollution caused directly by the burning of fossil fuels and hydrocarbons:
- Air Pollution
- Water Pollution
- Land Pollution
- Noise Pollution
Health Problems Caused by Burning of Fossil Fuels
The excessive burning of fossil fuels directly affects human health, causing multiple diseases and disorders. The burning of fossil fuels produces a high intensity of carbon, which directly affects our respiratory and nervous systems. Moreover, people exposed to severe air and water pollution are prone to dying at a very young age. Every year thousands of people die due to the consumption of contaminated air and water. People living near industrial estates and production factories develop cancer, asthma, and strokes caused due to the weakened nervous system.
How to Reduce Fossil Fuel Emissions?
Fossil fuel emissions can be reduced if burnt in an artificially controlled environment. It is essential to minimize emissions, which directly impact the natural environment and habitats around us. Fossil fuels emission can be reduced when we start producing electricity and energy through renewable and sustainable processes.
To reduce the overall carbon footprint, we need to utilize solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, and tidal energies. Moreover, environmentalists, engineers, and scientists need to ensure that renewable processes are more reliable and effective.
The industrial sector needs to make significant investments in the energy sector to promote and develop sustainable power generation techniques. These renewable resources would produce much more refined energy for our power systems, production units, and appliances.
