Petroleum and natural gas originates from the remains of prehistoric plants and animals had settled in the seas alongside silt sand and rocks. These rocks and silt settled in layers in rivers and sea bottoms. This trapped the organic matter which did not rot as a due to lack of air within this environment (Thomas 2005). High pressure and high temperatures transformed these sand, mud and silt into rock which gradually transformed into petroleum. This is how petroleum and natural gas if formed. Coal on the other hand originates from the plants and other organic life forms which died and were buried to the bottom of swampy areas. This matter decomposed forming peat which was later exposed to high temperature and pressure forming coal.
Stratigraphic traps are the geological structure in which petroleum is found. These are sedimentary rock structures which have pervious rocks with an impervious rock surrounding the porous rock. This prevents the oil and natural gas from escaping thus trapping the fuel. Coal on the other hand is found in the sedimentary rocks which are characterizes by beds and seams. In each of these seams coal would be found depending on among other factors the process of formation of these rocks as well as the general geology of the area (Ghosh and Prelas, 2009)
Petroleum is mainly used as an automobile fuel in which case it is an alternative to diesel as far as these automobiles are concerned. Natural gas on the other hand is used for domestic purposes as well as for commercial purposes especially in restaurants as an alternative source of energy. Coal is mainly used in the generation of electricity as well as in the manufacturer of steel. It also has domestic uses whereby people use it as a source of energy in various activities. Coal has a more negative impact on the environment as compared to petroleum because the high level of greenhouses gases like carbon dioxide emitted when coal is burned to release energy (Peter and Warwick 2005). It is however important to note that all the two three sources of energy cause global warming thus negatively impacting on the environment.
Bibliography
Larry Thomas Coal Geology West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, 2002. Print.
Ghosh,T.K. & Prelas, M.A., Systems: Volume 1: Fundamentals and Non-Renewable Resources New York: Springer, 2009. Print.
Peter D. Warwick, P.D., Coal Systems Analysis Virginia: Geological Society of America, 2005. Print.
