Formation of coal and petroleum

By Samar Bhatia

The resources that are important for human survival and are existing without the actions of humankind are natural resources. Some examples are coal, water and soil. There are also inexhaustible natural resources like sunlight and water that are present in infinite amounts and cannot be depleted or exhausted by human activities.

At the same time, exhaustible resources are present in finite amount and can be depleted or exhausted. This has two sub-types, renewable resources which can be renewed on human time. The other one is non-renewable resources which cannot be renewed in human times and might take millions of years for their formation.

Let’s take an example of coal which is a non-renewable natural resource. Coal was formed over millions of years by 2 processes – peatification and coalification. These 2 processes happened when some swamps got buried under land mass and the increase in temperature and pressure with the addition of a decrease of oxygen made carbon levels go higher. Through these steps the first product peat was formed, and after getting refined, it formed coal.

There are many types of coal for example anthracite, which only forms when the pressure and temperature increase in the buried land mass, and has the highest qualifications of all. It has a higher smoke point and can generate more power than any other coal type.

If we talk about another coal type such as bituminous coal, also known as house coal, is the most common type of coal. The process of carbonisation or deadly distillation of coal produces many sub-products of coal such as coal tar, coke, bitumen, etc.

Now, if we talk about petroleum, it is a substance that needs to be refined before usage. Petroleum, first is regarded as crude oil, and also known as black gold, can’t be used directly for powering cars. It is first sent to refineries and then to petrol pumps.

So, in conclusion, we need to carefully utilise these necessary substances for usage in the future.