Most of the products that we use everyday, like plastics, vehicle fuels, soaps & detergents, clothes, toothpastes are made from oil. Oil, or petroleum is derived from the fossils of animals and plants that lived millions of years back.Oil is one of the richest sources of hydrocarbons today.Coal is an abundant fossil resource that consists mostly of carbon.Coal is used to generate more than half of all electricity produced in the US.
The other uses of oil are in production of CDs, DVDs, deodorants, explosives, carpets, contact lenses, paint, food preservatives and perfumes.
Oil is recovered by drilling wells through non-porous rocks that have trapped oil. It is then refined by separating crude oil into different hydrocarbons, and then removing impurities such as sulphur and nitrogen. Crude oil reserves are located all around the world, with the Middle East alone possessing roughly about 60 percent of it.
According to a BBC study in 2006, the world currently burns more than 80 million barrels(1 barrel = approx 117 litres) a day, an average American burns about 25 barrels of oil a day, and each Briton burns about 11 barrels a day.
When petroleum products are burned to be used as fuel, they produce gases like carbon dioxide which are linked to global warming, and other pollutants of atmosphere such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and unburned hydrocarbons which pollute the air. Several other cleaner sources such as nuclear are being considered as alternatives to oil usage.
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