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Fossile Fuels are any of a class of materials of biological origin occurring within the Earth's crust that can be used as a source of energy.

Fossil fuels include coal, petroleum, natural gas, oil shales, bitumens, tar sands, and heavy oils. All contain carbon and were formed as a result of geologic processes acting on the remains of organic matter produced by photosynthesis, a process that began in the Archean Eon more than 3 billion years ago. Most carbonaceous material occurring before the Devonian Period (approximately 415 million years ago) was derived from algae and bacteria.

All fossil fuels can be burned in air or with oxygen derived from air to provide heat. This heat may be employed directly, as in the case of home furnaces, or utilized to produce steam to drive generators that can supply electricity. In still other cases—for example, gas turbines used in jet aircraft—the heat yielded by burning a fossil fuel serves to increase both the pressure and the temperature of the combustion products to furnish motive power.

Taken From:

fossil fuel ." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 9  July  2009  <http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9035002>.

Image Courtesy:

United States Geological Survey