Coal, natural gas, and oil are considered fossil fuels—when you burn these fossil fuels, greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) are released and trapped in the air, causing the heat to rise and eventually global warming.
Basically, having lots of Carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases in the air is the number one cause of climate change. This negatively impacts people, animals, oceans, land, vegetation, and etcetera. See our post on problems caused by climate change.
Fossil fuels are utilized across various sectors:
- Transportation uses gasoline and diesel.
- Agriculture employs heavy-duty machinery and chemicals to produce goods from raw materials.
- Electricity generation relies on fossil fuels to power homes and businesses.
UNDERSTANDING GREENHOUSE GASES
Greenhouse gasses include:
- Carbon Dioxide (CO2): A large amount comes from fossil fuels. A small amount comes from natural sources such as people exhaling, animals, and plants. CO2 makes up the majority of greenhouse gas emissions during combustion of fossil fuels.
- Methane (CH4): Comes from fossil fuels, livestock and agricultural practices such as the use of pesticides, land usage, and waste landfills.
- Nitrous Oxide (N2O): Comes from fossil fuels, agricultural practices, land usage, industrial activities, waste landfills, and wastewater treatment.
- Fluorinated gases: Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), Perfluorocarbons (PFCs), Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6), and Nitrogen Trifluoride (NF3) are synthetic gases that come from industrial activities.
Information above from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data.
Each greenhouse gas affects the environment differently and therefore impacts climate change differently. To determine how a gas contributes to climate change and global warming, you look different aspects:
- How much that gas is trapped in the air
- The level of concentration
- How long the gas stays in the air
- How strongly the gas impacts the atmosphere (is the concentration in the air thicker therefore making the air warmer?)
The above points are used to calculate the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of each greenhouse gas. Those gases that absorb more energy per pound are considered to make the planet warmer than others.
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is considered to have a high GWP because it stays concentrated in the atmosphere for a very long time—thousands of years.
Methane (CH4) and Nitrous Oxide (N2O) stay in the air for a shorter period when compared with CO2, 10 years and 100 years, respectively. However, CH4 absorbs much more energy than CO2, therefore its GWP is on the higher side as well.
Fluorinated gases such as Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), Perfluorocarbons (PFCs), Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6), and Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are considered gases with high GWP because they trap more heat that CO2 and linger on for thousands of years (“Understanding Global Warming Potentials”, United States Environmental Protection Agency, updated September 9, 2020).
BIGGEST POLLUTING ECONOMIC SECTOR GLOBALLY
Around the world, different sectors consume energy differently and also release greenhouse gases differently. The electricity and heat production sector is the largest polluting sector responsible for 25% of all emissions globally (“Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data”, United States Environmental Protection Agency, updated October 26, 2021).
The Agriculture and Forestry sector (including other land use) is responsible for 24% of greenhouse gas emissions. Industry releases 21% of gas emissions when producing goods from raw materials.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency also indicated, in their article about Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data above, that transportation is responsible for 14% of emissions, globally. This number is the total of all emissions coming from gasoline and diesel used for road, air, rail, and marine transportation.
In countries such as the United States of America, cars and trucks on the road are responsible for over 80% of the total greenhouse gas emissions by the transportation sector, while commercial air travel is only responsible for 7% of transportation sector’s emissions (EPA, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990–2017, report published in 2021, page 110).
Building and construction is responsible for 6% of emissions and the remaining 10% comes from other energy sector activities outside electricity and heat, such as fuel extraction and processing.
With regards to countries, according to Statista’s 2019 report, the three largest producers of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel in the world are China, the United States of America, and India.
Conclusion
Fossil fuels—coal, natural gas, and oil—are non-renewable energy sources. When burned, they release significant amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. These emissions trap heat, leading to global warming and widespread climate change impacts. The continued reliance on fossil fuels across various sectors contributes substantially to global greenhouse gas emissions, underscoring the urgent need for transitioning to cleaner, renewable energy sources to mitigate climate change. The United States, China, and India are the biggest polluters globally.