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Questions tagged [fossil-fuel]

A term for fuels derived from the remains of plants or animals by geological processes over long time periods. A blanket term covering coal, oil, and natural gas.

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106 votes
3 answers
47k views

Do coal plants release more radiation than nuclear power plants?

As a response to the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant I've heard the claim that fossil-fuel power plants using coal release more radiation than a nuclear power plant. I searched for some ...
Mad Scientist's user avatar
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80 votes
2 answers
11k views

Does fossil fuels use since 1990 account for half of all the fossil fuels used in history?

This recent claim appeared on Twitter: If you are 29, you’ve been alive when half of all the fossil fuels ever burned throughout all of human history have been burned The source appears to be an ...
matt_black's user avatar
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36 votes
3 answers
9k views

Did "fossil-fuel pollution [kill] three times as many people as COVID-19 did" in 2020?

Bill McKibben writes for The New Yorker in a March 18, 2022 article titled "In a World on Fire, Stop Burning Things" (emphasis added): Our species depends on combustion; it made us human, ...
LShaver's user avatar
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36 votes
4 answers
12k views

At the current rate are we going run out of fossil fuels by 2060?

British energy company Octopus Energy claims on their blog: If we keep burning fossil fuels at our current rate, it is generally estimated that all our fossil fuels will be depleted by 2060. This ...
Stupid_Intern's user avatar
30 votes
2 answers
3k views

Is there a deep, hot biosphere?

Thomas Gold claims that oil is not aging vegetal or animal matter, but rather made continously from bacteria deep in the Earth's mantle (a 'deep hot biosphere') so that we would effectively never have ...
Joseph Weissman's user avatar
25 votes
3 answers
2k views

Why do we not have vehicles that meet or exceed the MPG ratings of vehicles that were available in the 1990s

I'm seeing some conspiracy theories making the rounds which claim that car-manufacturers are intentionally making cars that aren't as fuel efficient as they used to be. They often point to the Geo ...
jshen's user avatar
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24 votes
2 answers
10k views

Will SpaceX's fleet of rockets triple the entire United States demand for methane/natural gas?

According to Energy Consulting Group's "SpaceX's Starship May Nearly Triple US Natural Gas Demand" page, Our analysis indicates that a fully configured Starship launch (booster and Starship)...
Evan Carroll's user avatar
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22 votes
3 answers
7k views

Does using electricity from the grid in the U.S. result in more greenhouse gas emissions than using propane?

A recent opinion piece, Why the EPA shouldn’t favor school bus electrification, makes the following claim (link in original): At last check, the average carbon intensity of the U.S. electric grid was ...
LShaver's user avatar
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16 votes
2 answers
2k views

Does the fossil fuel industry benefit from trillions of dollars of subsidy from governments every year?

This IMF working paper claims that the fossil fuel industry benefits from trillions of dollars of government subsidies every year. It is a working paper intended to "promote discussion" and not the ...
matt_black's user avatar
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14 votes
1 answer
3k views

Do black cars consume more fuel?

Some time in 2009, California passed new regulations, banning black cars (here's one source) on the grounds that black cars have higher emissions than other colors of cars. The theory is that black ...
Flimzy's user avatar
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12 votes
2 answers
3k views

Are fossil fuels making the world greener?

The popular understanding (at least among those who are not climate skeptics) of global warming is that it is likely to create environmental catastrophe for reasons such as spreading deserts and ...
matt_black's user avatar
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11 votes
3 answers
5k views

Has natural gas "reduced carbon emissions from power generation by 38%" in Ohio?

On January 6, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed legislation that legally defined natural gas as a source of "green energy." In a January 10 opinion piece U.S. representative Troy Baldwin (of Ohio)...
LShaver's user avatar
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11 votes
2 answers
759 views

Has the oil industry made $1 trillion dollars of profit a year for 50 years?

A headline in the Guardian on July 21 2022 claims the following: Revealed: oil sector’s ‘staggering’ $3bn-a-day profits for last 50 years [Note that $3 billion/day is roughly $1 trillion per year.] ...
matt_black's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
836 views

Can an on-the-fly water electrolyzer linked to the air intake improve fuel efficiency of a gasoline engine?

This article initially seems to investigate so-called water powered cars. The final few paragraphs of the article however branches off into discussion about a system where (as I understand it): A car'...
Highly Irregular's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
1k views

Did oil come from Dinosaurs?

Oil (and other carbon based fuels like Coal, but for this question, I'm more interested in Oil) is widely regarded as a "Fossil Fuel" because its origin was ancient flora and fauna, buried deep below ...
Johnny's user avatar
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9 votes
0 answers
409 views

Are electric cars better for the environment than internal-combustion cars? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Does a car with a hybrid engine and Lithium batteries pollute more than a car with conventional technology? We hear a lot about electric cars being the future. But we also ...
richard's user avatar
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8 votes
0 answers
4k views

Is filling multiple vehicles in one transaction at a gas station a safety hazard?

According to this gas station, pumping gasoline into more than one vehicle is a serious safety hazard: The gas station making this claim charges different customers different prices per gallon ...
WBT's user avatar
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7 votes
1 answer
326 views

Did increased global methane emissions in 2017 come from cattle farming?

In a 2017 press release, Don’t blame cattle – it’s humans who caused methane levels to skyrocket., Robert Howarth, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University claims that there ...
Nigel J's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
3k views

Can getting in and out of a vehicle at a gas station cause combustion?

The warning signs at gas stations warn that you ought not enter and exit your vehicle while filling up your tank at the gas station. I have also been told by many people that doing so runs a risk of ...
asteri's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
1k views

Does Shell's "Nitrogen enriched" gas have positive effects?

Shell gas stations here in Canada claim to be "nitrogen enriched"; WHY SHOULD YOU USE SHELL NITROGEN ENRICHED GASOLINE? It is the only gasoline that contains the patented and exclusive ...
0xDBFB7's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
3k views

Does the time of day affect fuel economy?

One tip that I heard as a young driver was something along the following: Try to refuel in the early morning or in the evening as the denser gas will get you better fuel economy. Since then I ...
rjzii's user avatar
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4 votes
0 answers
1k views

Can Hemp free us from oil dependency?

Within this article it makes the claim that hemp oil is a viable alternative to crude oil. It doesn't go into any detail. It only states that hemp oil is a "clean fuel" while listing in the title "...
user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
561 views

Did Willie Soon fail to disclose a conflict of interest with the fossil fuel lobby?

Willie Soon recently co-authored a paper that criticised the big computer models used for many projections of future climate (which in turn have fed the IPCC process that drive consensus climate ...
matt_black's user avatar
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3 votes
0 answers
267 views

Does the UK subsidise fossil fuels more than other European countries? [closed]

According to a recent report in the Guardian the UK has much higher subsidies on fossil fuels than other European countries (presumably, it is the Guardian, this is a very bad thing). They report: ...
matt_black's user avatar
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2 votes
0 answers
400 views

Are home owners required by law to connect gas in Victoria, Australia?

The One Step Off The Grid website claims that home owners in Victoria are required to connect to the gas network. It does not give an easy way to verify this claim. Did you know Victoria’s building ...
user1605665's user avatar
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-2 votes
2 answers
486 views

Have there been no long lines or price hikes for gas in the eastern US?

On May 11, 2021, the New York Times reported Colonial Pipeline, a vital U.S. fuel artery that was shut down by a cyberattack, said it hoped to restore most operations by the end of the week. Since ...
Paul Draper's user avatar
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