Fossil fuel#Origin

File:Countries by Oil Production in 2013.svg are located only at certain places on Earth,[http://quakeinfo.ucsd.edu/~gabi/sio15/energy/supps/globalmap-oil.jpg Oil fields map] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806212614/http://quakeinfo.ucsd.edu/~gabi/sio15/energy/supps/globalmap-oil.jpg |date=6 August 2012 }}. quakeinfo.ucsd.edu only some countries are oil-independent; the other countries depend on the oil-production capacities of these countries.]]

The theory that fossil fuels formed from the fossilized remains of dead plants by exposure to heat and pressure in Earth's crust over millions of years was first introduced by Andreas Libavius "in his 1597 Alchemia [Alchymia]" and later by Mikhail Lomonosov "as early as 1757 and certainly by 1763".{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mgxEDwAAQBAJ|title=Springer Handbook of Petroleum Technology|last1=Hsu|first1=Chang Samuel|last2=Robinson|first2=Paul R.|publisher=Springer|year=2017|isbn=978-3-319-49347-3|edition=2nd, illustrated|page=360}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=mgxEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA360 Extract of p. 360] The first recorded use of the term "fossil fuel" occurs in the work of the German chemist Caspar Neumann, in English translation in 1759.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OBUAAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA492|title=The Chemical Works of Caspar Neumann ... (1773 printing)|author1=Caspar Neumann|author2=William Lewis|publisher=J. and F. Rivington|year=1759|pages=492–}} The Oxford English Dictionary notes that, in the phrase "fossil fuel," the adjective "fossil" means "[o]btained by digging; found buried in the earth", which dates to at least 1652,

{{Cite OED|fossil}} – "fossil [...] adj. [...] Obtained by digging; found buried in the earth. Now chiefly of fuels and other materials occurring naturally in underground deposits; esp. in FOSSIL FUEL n."

before the English noun "fossil" came to refer primarily to long-dead organisms in the early 18th century.

{{Cite OED|fossil}} – "fossil [...] n. [...] Something preserved in the ground, esp. in petrified form in rock, and recognizable as the remains of a living organism of a former geological period, or as preserving an impression or trace of such an organism."

Aquatic phytoplankton and zooplankton that died and sedimented in large quantities under anoxic conditions millions of years ago began forming petroleum and natural gas as a result of anaerobic decomposition. Over geological time this organic matter, mixed with mud, became buried under further heavy layers of inorganic sediment. The resulting high temperature and pressure caused the organic matter to chemically alter, first into a waxy material known as kerogen, which is found in oil shales, and then with more heat into liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons in a process known as catagenesis. Despite these heat-driven transformations, the energy released in combustion is still photosynthetic in origin.{{cite web|title= thermochemistry of fossil fuel formation|url= http://www.geochemsoc.org/files/6214/1261/1770/SP-2_271-284_Sato.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150920172448/http://www.geochemsoc.org/files/6214/1261/1770/SP-2_271-284_Sato.pdf |archive-date=2015-09-20 |url-status=live}}

Terrestrial plants tended to form coal and methane. Many of the coal fields date to the Carboniferous period of Earth's history. Terrestrial plants also form type III kerogen, a source of natural gas. Although fossil fuels are continually formed by natural processes, they are classified as non-renewable resources because they take millions of years to form and known viable reserves are being depleted much faster than new ones are generated.{{cite book|last1=Miller|first1=G.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AJ4SnHbb-ZcC&q=fossil+fuels+depleted+much+faster+than+renewal&pg=PA11|title=Environmental Science: Problems, Connections and Solutions|last2=Spoolman|first2=Scott|publisher=Cengage Learning|year=2007|isbn=978-0-495-38337-6|access-date=14 April 2018|via=Google Books}}{{cite book|last=Ahuja|first=Satinder|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DHKDBAAAQBAJ&q=fossil+fuels+depleted+much+faster+than+renewal&pg=PA278|title=Food, Energy, and Water: The Chemistry Connection|publisher=Elsevier|year=2015|isbn=978-0-12-800374-9|access-date=14 April 2018|via=Google Books}}

{{See also|Fossil fuel power station}}

File:2008- Oil and gas industry global net income - IEA.svg

File:2007- Profits of energy companies (annual) - stacked bar chart.svg, energy company profits increased with greater revenues from higher fuel prices resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, falling debt levels, tax write-downs of projects shut down in Russia, and backing off from earlier plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Record profits sparked public calls for windfall taxes.{{cite news |last1=Bousso |first1=Ron |title=Big Oil doubles profits in blockbuster 2022 |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/big-oil-doubles-profits-blockbuster-2022-2023-02-08/ |work=Reuters |date=8 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331215451/https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/big-oil-doubles-profits-blockbuster-2022-2023-02-08/ |archive-date=31 March 2023 |url-status=live }} ● Details for 2020 from the more detailed diagram in {{cite news |last1=King |first1=Ben |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64583982 |title=Why are BP, Shell, and other oil giants making so much money right now? |agency=BBC |date=12 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230422164652/https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64583982 |archive-date=22 April 2023 |url-status=live }}]]

Fossil fuels have been important to human development because they can be readily burned in the open atmosphere to produce heat. The use of peat as a domestic fuel predates recorded history. Coal was burned in some early furnaces for the smelting of metal ore, while semi-solid hydrocarbons from oil seeps were also burned in ancient times,{{cite web|url= https://www.britannica.com/ebc/article-50695 |title=Encyclopædia Britannica, use of oil seeps in ancient times|access-date=9 September 2007}} they were mostly used for waterproofing and embalming.{{cite web| last = Bilkadi| first = Zayn| year =1992| title = Bulls From the Sea: Ancient Oil Industries| publisher = Aramco World|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071113215013/http://www.gr8dubai.com/oil2.htm|archive-date=13 November 2007|url=http://www.gr8dubai.com/oil2.htm}}

Commercial exploitation of petroleum began in the 19th century.{{cite book |last=Ball |first=Max W. |author2=Douglas Ball |author3=Daniel S. Turner |title=This Fascinating Oil Business |year=1965 |publisher=Bobbs-Merrill |location=Indianapolis |isbn=978-0-672-50829-5 }}

Natural gas, once flared-off as an unneeded byproduct of petroleum production, is now considered a very valuable resource.{{cite conference | first = Rashad | last = Kaldany | date = 13 December 2006 | title = Global Gas Flaring Reduction: A Time for Action! | conference = Global Forum on Flaring & Gas Utilization | location = Paris | url = http://www.worldbank.org/html/fpd/ggfrforum06/kadany.pdf |publisher=World Bank | access-date = 9 September 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070910075542/http://www.worldbank.org/html/fpd/ggfrforum06/kadany.pdf |archive-date= Sep 10, 2007 }} Natural gas deposits are also the main source of helium.

Heavy crude oil, which is much more viscous than conventional crude oil, and oil sands, where bitumen is found mixed with sand and clay, began to become more important as sources of fossil fuel in the early 2000s.{{cite web|url= http://www.prlog.org/10026386-oil-sands-global-market-potential-2007.html |date=Aug 10, 2007 |website=PRLog |title=Oil Sands Global Market Potential 2007|access-date=9 September 2007}} Oil shale and similar materials are sedimentary rocks containing kerogen, a complex mixture of high-molecular weight organic compounds, which yield synthetic crude oil when heated (pyrolyzed). With additional processing, they can be employed instead of other established fossil fuels. During the 2010s and 2020s there was disinvestment from exploitation of such resources due to their high carbon cost relative to more easily-processed reserves.{{cite news |last1=Carrington |first1=Damian |date=12 December 2017 |title=Insurance giant Axa dumps investments in tar sands pipelines |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/12/insurance-giant-axa-dumps-investments-tar-sands-pipelines |access-date=24 December 2017}}

Prior to the latter half of the 18th century, windmills and watermills provided the energy needed for work such as milling flour, sawing wood or pumping water, while burning wood or peat provided domestic heat. The wide-scale use of fossil fuels, coal at first and petroleum later, in steam engines enabled the Industrial Revolution. At the same time, gas lights using natural gas or coal gas were coming into wide use. The invention of the internal combustion engine and its use in automobiles and trucks greatly increased the demand for gasoline and diesel oil, both made from fossil fuels. Other forms of transportation, railways and aircraft, also require fossil fuels. The other major use for fossil fuels is in generating electricity and as feedstock for the petrochemical industry. Tar, a leftover of petroleum extraction, is used in the construction of roads.

The energy for the Green Revolution was provided by fossil fuels in the form of fertilizers (natural gas), pesticides (oil), and hydrocarbon-fueled irrigation.[http://www.energybulletin.net/281.html Eating Fossil Fuels]. EnergyBulletin. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611071544/http://www.energybulletin.net/281.html |date=June 11, 2007 }}{{cite news |title=Soaring fertilizer prices put global food security at risk |url=https://www.axios.com/2022/05/06/fertilizer-prices-food-securtiy |work=Axios |date=6 May 2022}} The development of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer has significantly supported global population growth; it has been estimated that almost half of the Earth's population are currently fed as a result of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer use.{{cite journal|last1=Erisman|first1=Jan Willem|first2=Mark A.|last2=Sutton|first3=James|last3=Galloway|first4=Zbigniew|last4=Klimont|first5=Wilfried|last5=Winiwarter|title=How a century of ammonia synthesis changed the world|journal=Nature Geoscience|pages=636–639|date=October 2008|volume=1|doi=10.1038/ngeo325|url=http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~wilkins/energy/Resources/Essays/ngeo325.pdf.xpdf|issue=10|bibcode=2008NatGe...1..636E|s2cid=94880859 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100723223052/http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~wilkins/energy/Resources/Essays/ngeo325.pdf.xpdf|archive-date=23 July 2010}} According to head of a fertilizers commodity price agency, "50% of the world's food relies on fertilisers."{{cite news |last1=Butler |first1=Sarah |last2=Ambrose |first2=Jillian |date=20 October 2021 |title=Fears global energy crisis could lead to famine in vulnerable countries |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/oct/20/global-energy-crisis-famine-production |access-date=2022-12-17}}

{{Main|Effects of climate change|Health and environmental impact of the coal industry}}{{See also|Extinction risk from climate change}}

File:CO2 Emissions by Source Since 1880.svg shows how additions to {{CO2}} since 1880 have been caused by different sources ramping up one after another.]]

The burning of fossil fuels has a number of negative externalities{{Snd}}harmful environmental impacts where the effects extend beyond the people using the fuel. These effects vary between different fuels. All fossil fuels release {{co2}} when they burn, thus accelerating climate change. Burning coal, and to a lesser extent oil and its derivatives, contributes to atmospheric particulate matter, smog and acid rain.{{cite book

|author = Oswald Spengler

|author-link = Oswald Spengler

|title = Man and Technics

|url = http://fatuma.net/text/Spengler_Man-Technics.pdf

|year = 1932

|publisher = Alfred A. Knopf

|isbn = 0-8371-8875-X

|access-date = 7 December 2020

|archive-date = 12 November 2020

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201112020604/http://fatuma.net/text/Spengler_Man-Technics.pdf

|url-status = dead

}}{{cite journal|journal=CQ Researcher|last=Griffin|first=Rodman|title=Alternative Energy|date=10 July 1992|volume=2|issue=2|pages=573–596}}{{cite book

|author = Michael Stephenson

|title = Energy and Climate Change: An Introduction to Geological Controls, Interventions and Mitigations

|url =https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780128120217/energy-and-climate-change

|year = 2018

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Air pollution from fossil fuels in 2018 has been estimated to cost US$2.9 trillion, or 3.3% of the global gross domestic product (GDP).{{Cite web|title=Quantifying the Economic Costs of Air Pollution from Fossil Fuels|url=https://energyandcleanair.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Cost-of-fossil-fuels-briefing.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406173555/https://energyandcleanair.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Cost-of-fossil-fuels-briefing.pdf|archive-date=6 April 2020}}

File:Common Era Temperature.svg

Climate change is largely driven by the release of greenhouse gases like {{co2}}, and the burning of fossil fuels is the main source of these emissions. In most parts of the world climate change is negatively impacting ecosystems.{{cite web |url=https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/climate-impacts/climate-impacts-ecosystems_.html#Extinction |title=Climate Impacts on Ecosystems |author=EPA |date=19 January 2017 |access-date=7 December 2020}} This includes contributing to the extinction of species and reducing people's ability to produce food, thus adding to the problem of world hunger. Continued rises in global temperatures will lead to further adverse effects on both ecosystems and people; the World Health Organization has said that climate change is the greatest threat to human health in the 21st century.{{cite web |date=November 2015 |title=WHO calls for urgent action to protect health from climate change – Sign the call |website=World Health Organization |url=https://www.who.int/globalchange/global-campaign/cop21/en/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151008113710/http://www.who.int/globalchange/global-campaign/cop21/en/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 October 2015 |access-date=7 December 2020}}{{cite book |publisher = World Meteorological Organization |title = WMO Statement on the State of the Global Climate in 2019 |url = https://library.wmo.int/doc_num.php?explnum_id=10211 |year = 2020 |location = Geneva |series = WMO-No. 1248 |isbn = 978-92-63-11248-4 |access-date = 7 December 2020 |archive-date = 10 March 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200310233045/https://library.wmo.int/doc_num.php?explnum_id=10211 |url-status = dead }}

Combustion of fossil fuels generates sulfuric and nitric acids, which fall to Earth as acid rain, impacting both natural areas and the built environment. Monuments and sculptures made from marble and limestone are particularly vulnerable, as the acids dissolve calcium carbonate.

Fossil fuels also contain radioactive materials, mainly uranium and thorium, which are released into the atmosphere. In 2000, about 12,000 tonnes of thorium and 5,000 tonnes of uranium were released worldwide from burning coal.{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=http://www.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/rev26-34/text/colmain.html |title=Coal Combustion: Nuclear Resource or Danger |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070205103749/http://www.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/rev26-34/text/colmain.html |archive-date=5 February 2007 |first1=Alex |last1=Gabbard |website=Oak Ridge National Laboratory }} It is estimated that during 1982, US coal burning released 155 times as much radioactivity into the atmosphere as the Three Mile Island accident.{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~aubrecht/coalvsnucMarcon.pdf#page=8 |title=Nuclear proliferation through coal burning |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327101806/http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~aubrecht/coalvsnucMarcon.pdf |archive-date=27 March 2009 |first1=Gordon J. |last1=Aubrecht II |date=2003 |publisher=Physics Education Research Group, Department of Physics, Ohio State University}}

Burning coal also generates large amounts of bottom ash and fly ash. These materials are used in a wide variety of applications (see Fly ash reuse), utilizing, for example,{{clarify|date=November 2023}} about 40% of the United States production.{{cite web| author = American Coal Ash Association| title = CCP Production and Use Survey| url = http://acaa.affiniscape.com/associations/8003/files/2004_CCP_Survey(9-9-05).pdf}}{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} {{Dead link|date=April 2022}}

In addition to the effects that result from burning, the harvesting, processing, and distribution of fossil fuels also have environmental effects. Coal mining methods, particularly mountaintop removal and strip mining, have negative environmental impacts, and offshore oil drilling poses a hazard to aquatic organisms. Fossil fuel wells can contribute to methane release via fugitive gas emissions. Oil refineries also have negative environmental impacts, including air and water pollution. Coal is sometimes transported by diesel-powered locomotives, while crude oil is typically transported by tanker ships, requiring the combustion of additional fossil fuels.

File:Annual-co2-emissions-by-region-2022.png. This measures fossil fuel and industry emissions. Land use change is not included.{{cite web |url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co-emissions-by-region |title=Annual {{CO2}} emissions by world region |publisher=Our World in Data |website=ourworldindata.org |format=chart|access-date=2024-09-18}}]]

A variety of mitigating efforts have arisen to counter the negative effects of fossil fuels. This includes a movement to use alternative energy sources, such as renewable energy. Environmental regulation uses a variety of approaches to limit these emissions; for example, rules against releasing waste products like fly ash into the atmosphere.

In December 2020, the United Nations released a report saying that despite the need to reduce greenhouse emissions, various governments are "doubling down" on fossil fuels, in some cases diverting over 50% of their COVID-19 recovery stimulus funding to fossil fuel production rather than to alternative energy. The UN secretary general António Guterres declared that "Humanity is waging war on nature. This is suicidal. Nature always strikes back{{Snd}}and it is already doing so with growing force and fury." He also claimed there is still cause for hope, anticipating the US plan to join other large emitters like China and the EU in adopting targets to reach net zero emissions by 2050.{{cite web|url= https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/02/world-is-doubling-down-on-fossil-fuels-despite-climate-crisis-un-report|title= World is 'doubling down' on fossil fuels despite climate crisis – UN report |newspaper= The Guardian|author = Damian Carrington |date = 2 December 2020|access-date= 7 December 2020}}{{cite web |author=Harvey |first=Fiona |author-link=Fiona Harvey |date=2 December 2020 |title=Humanity is waging war on nature, says UN secretary general |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/02/humanity-is-waging-war-on-nature-says-un-secretary-general-antonio-guterres |access-date=7 December 2020 |newspaper=The Guardian}}{{cite web|url= https://productiongap.org/2020report/|title= The Production Gap: The discrepancy between countries' planned fossil fuel production and global production levels consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C or 2°C|publisher= UNEP

|date = December 2020|access-date= 7 December 2020}}

Fossilflation is a term that describes the impact of fossil fuels on inflation.{{Cite web |last=Leber |first=Rebecca |date=2022-08-12 |title=Fight climate change. End fossilflation. Here's how. |url=https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2022/8/12/23290488/fight-climate-change-end-fossil-fuel-inflation |access-date=2024-08-18 |website=Vox |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Horowitz |first=Julia |date=2022-12-13 |title=Analysis: Inflation is finally falling. But the days when prices rose just 2% may never return {{!}} CNN Business |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/13/economy/inflation-2-demographics-climate-deglobalization/index.html |access-date=2024-08-18 |website=CNN |language=en}}

According to Vox in August 2022, "Economists have pointed to energy prices as the main reason for high inflation", noting that "energy prices indirectly affect virtually every part of the economy". Sectors that raise prices significantly as a result of higher fossil fuel prices include transportation, food, and shipping.

Mark Zandi of Moody's says that fossil fuel prices have driven every big episode of inflation since WWII.

The economic impact of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was a major recent example of fossil fuels causing inflation. Some economists, including Isabel Schnabel, believe that dependence on fossil fuels is the main driver of the 2021-2022 inflation spike.

Gernot Wagner argues that commodities are undesirable energy sources because they are susceptible to volatile price swings that technologies like renewable energy are not. He also argues that technologies improve and get relatively cheaper over time. Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, some argued for the possibility of a base effect phenomenon due to cheaper than normal prices, such as for oil, at the onset of the pandemic, followed by above-average prices which exacerbated the perceived inflation.{{Cite journal |last1=Koester |first1=Gerrit |last2=Lis |first2=Eliza |last3=Nickel |first3=Christiane |date=2022 |title=Inflation Developments in the Euro Area Since the Onset of the Pandemic |url=https://www.intereconomics.eu/contents/year/2022/number/2/article/inflation-developments-in-the-euro-area-since-the-onset-of-the-pandemic.html |journal=Intereconomics |language=en |volume=2022 |issue=2 |pages=69–75}}{{Cite journal |last1=Van Doorslaer |first1=Hielke |last2=Vermeiren |first2=Mattias |date=2021-09-03 |title=Pushing on a String: Monetary Policy, Growth Models and the Persistence of Low Inflation in Advanced Capitalism |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13563467.2020.1858774 |journal=New Political Economy |language=en |volume=26 |issue=5 |pages=797–816 |doi=10.1080/13563467.2020.1858774 |issn=1356-3467 |s2cid=230588698}}

While not expected to provide much short-term relief, the Inflation Reduction Act seeks to make the United States less dependent on fossil fuels and their ability to cause inflation in the economy.{{Cite news |last=Wagner |first=Gernot |date=2022-08-12 |title=Opinion {{!}} Greening Your Home Will Be Cheaper, but Expect Growing Pains |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/12/opinion/environment/climate-bill-house-inflation-reduction.html |access-date=2024-08-18 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |last=Wagner |first=Gernot |date=February 23, 2024 |title=The Ukraine War Blew Up the World's Energy Economy |url=https://heatmap.news/economy/ukraine-war-global-energy |access-date=2024-08-18 |website=heatmap.news |language=en |quote=Throughout the most recent U.S. spike in inflation in 2022, the energy category alone was responsible for around half of total inflation. And that’s just counting the direct effects. Indirectly, a good portion of the food price increases ever since are also due to higher energy costs. If the farmer pays more to harvest the crop, soon those commodity prices increase as well. Of course, it isn’t all fossil fuels...The IRA has not and will not cut inflation overnight. But that fight is indeed a big part of the bill’s legacy: Play the long game of tackling all three types of climate-related inflation — fossilflation, climateflation, and greenflation — at their very core, and indeed justify the law’s name.}} Moody's estimates that by 2030, the bill could reduce the typical American household's spending on energy by more than $300 each year, in 2022 dollars.

File:2021 Death rates, by energy source.svg (rectangles barely visible in chart).{{cite journal |last1=Ritchie |first1=Hannah |last2=Roser |first2=Max |title=What are the safest and cleanest sources of energy? |url=https://ourworldindata.org/safest-sources-of-energy |journal=Our World in Data |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240115112316/https://ourworldindata.org/safest-sources-of-energy |archive-date=15 January 2024 |date=2021 |url-status=live }} Data sources: Markandya & Wilkinson (2007); UNSCEAR (2008; 2018); Sovacool et al. (2016); IPCC AR5 (2014); Pehl et al. (2017); Ember Energy (2021).]]

Environmental pollution from fossil fuels impacts humans because particulates and other air pollution from fossil fuel combustion may cause illness and death when inhaled. These health effects include premature death, acute respiratory illness, aggravated asthma, chronic bronchitis and decreased lung function. The poor, undernourished, very young and very old, and people with preexisting respiratory disease and other ill health are more at risk.{{cite conference|last1=Liodakis|first1=E|title=The nuclear alternative: Energy Production within Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia|year=2011|volume=1342|issue=1|page=91|doi=10.1063/1.3583174|conference=AIP Conference Proceedings|last2=Dashdorj|first2=Dugersuren|last3=Mitchell|first3=Gary E.|bibcode=2011AIPC.1342...91L}} Global air pollution deaths due to fossil fuels have been estimated at over 8 million people (2018, nearly 1 in 5 deaths worldwide){{Cite web |last=Chaisson |first=Clara |date=19 February 2021 |title=Fossil Fuel Air Pollution Kills One in Five People |url=https://www.nrdc.org/stories/fossil-fuel-air-pollution-kills-one-five-people |access-date=2022-04-05 |website=NRDC |language=en}} at 10.2 million (2019),{{cite journal |last1=Vohra |first1=Karn |last2=Vodonos |first2=Alina |last3=Schwartz |first3=Joel |last4=Marais |first4=Eloise A.|author4-link=Eloise Marais |last5=Sulprizio |first5=Melissa P. |last6=Mickley |first6=Loretta J. |title=Global mortality from outdoor fine particle pollution generated by fossil fuel combustion: Results from GEOS-Chem |journal=Environmental Research |date=April 2021 |volume=195 |page=110754 |doi=10.1016/j.envres.2021.110754 |pmid=33577774 |bibcode=2021ER....19510754V |s2cid=231909881 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935121000487 }} and 5.13 million excess deaths from ambient air pollution from fossil fuel use (2023).{{cite journal |last1=Lelieveld |first1=Jos |last2=Haines |first2=Andy |last3=Burnett |first3=Richard |last4=Tonne |first4=Cathryn |last5=Klingmueller |first5=Klaus |last6=Munzel |first6=Thomas |last7=Pozzer |first7=Andrea |title=Air pollution deaths attributable to fossil fuels: observational and modelling study |journal=The BMJ |date=29 November 2023 |volume=383 |page=e077784 |doi=10.1136/bmj-2023-077784 |pmid=38030155 |pmc=10686100 |doi-access=free }}

While all energy sources inherently have adverse effects, the data show that fossil fuels cause the highest levels of greenhouse gas emissions and are the most dangerous for human health. In contrast, modern renewable energy sources appear to be safer for human health and cleaner. The death rates from accidents and air pollution in the EU are as follows per terawatt-hour (TWh):

{{Cite web|title=What are the safest and cleanest sources of energy?|url=https://ourworldindata.org/safest-sources-of-energy|access-date=2020-12-29|website=Our World in Data}} As the data shows, coal, oil, natural gas, and biomass cause higher death rates and higher levels of greenhouse gas emissions than hydropower, nuclear energy, wind, and solar power. Scientists propose that 1.8 million lives have been saved by replacing fossil fuel sources with nuclear power.{{Cite web|last=Jogalekar|first=Ashutosh|title=Nuclear power may have saved 1.8 million lives otherwise lost to fossil fuels, may save up to 7 million more.|url=https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/the-curious-wavefunction/nuclear-power-may-have-saved-1-8-million-lives-otherwise-lost-to-fossil-fuels-may-save-up-to-7-million-more/|access-date=2020-12-29|website=Scientific American Blog Network|language=en}}

File:2018- Energy transition investment versus fossil fuel investment.svg reported that in 2022, global energy transition investment equaled fossil fuels investment for the first time.{{cite news |title=Energy Transition Investment Now On Par with Fossil Fuel |url=https://about.bnef.com/blog/energy-transition-investment-now-on-par-with-fossil-fuel/ |publisher=Bloomberg NEF (New Energy Finance) |date=10 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327065546/https://about.bnef.com/blog/energy-transition-investment-now-on-par-with-fossil-fuel/ |archive-date=27 March 2023 |url-status=live }}]]

{{excerpt|Fossil fuel phase-out|only=paragraph}}

{{Excerpt|just transition}}

{{Excerpt|Fossil fuel divestment}}

{{main|Coal industry|Petroleum industry}}

{{Further|Fossil fuel exporters|Fossil fuels lobby}}

In 2019, Saudi Aramco was listed and it reached a US$2 trillion valuation on its second day of trading,{{Cite web

| title = Saudi Aramco touches $2tn valuation on second day of trading

| first1 = Simeon | last1 = Kerr | first2 = Arash | last2 = Massoudi | first3 = Anjli | last3 = Raval

| work = Financial Times

| date = 19 December 2019

| access-date = 10 January 2020

| url = https://www.ft.com/content/b6137df6-1cb4-11ea-9186-7348c2f183af

}} after the world's largest initial public offering.{{Cite web

| title = Saudi Aramco raises $25.6bn in world's biggest IPO

| first1 = Anjli | last1 = Raval | first2 = Simeon | last2 = Kerr | first3 = Philip | last3 = Stafford

| work = Financial Times

| date = 5 December 2019

| access-date = 10 January 2020

| url = https://www.ft.com/content/67e3fbd6-1775-11ea-8d73-6303645ac406

}}

{{Excerpt|fossil fuel subsidies|files=Fossil-fuel-subsidies-per-capita.svg}}

{{Excerpt|Fossil fuels lobby|only=paragraphs}}

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• Abiogenic petroleum origin – a proposal that petroleum is not a fossil fuel
• Bioremediation
• Carbon bubble
• Eco-economic decoupling
• Environmental impact of the energy industry
• Fossil Fools Day
• Fossil Fuel Beta
• Hydraulic fracturing
• Liquefied petroleum gas
• Low-carbon power
• Peak coal
• Peak gas
• Phase-out of fossil fuel vehicles
• Shale gas

{{div col end}}

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• Barrett, Ross; Worden, Daniel (eds.), Oil Culture. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2014.
• Bob Johnson, Carbon Nation: Fossil Fuels in the Making of American Culture. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2014.

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• [https://globalenergymonitor.org/oil-and-gas/global-fossil-infrastructure-tracker/ Global Fossil Infrastructure Tracker] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210235316/https://globalenergymonitor.org/oil-and-gas/global-fossil-infrastructure-tracker/ |date=10 December 2019 }}
• [https://energyandcleanair.org/ Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air]

{{Global warming}}

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