Petrol, which is also called as gasoline is a very common fossil fuel that we use today. It is a type of fossil fuel that is formed over millions of years through a process called fossilization.
Let us see a simplified explanation of how petrol is formed:
👉 Organic matter accumulation: Millions of years ago, large amounts of dead plants, algae & other organic materials settled at the bottom of ancient lakes and seas.
👉 Sediment deposition: Over time, these layers of dead plants etc got covered with layers of sediment such as sand, mud, and silt, protecting it from decomposing.
👉 Heat and pressure: As more sediment layers accumulated, the weight of the overlying material increased, placing the buried organic matter under immense pressure. The temperature also increased due to the Earth's natural heat.
👉 Conversion to kerogen: The combination of high pressure and temperature caused a chemical transformation of the organic matter into a waxy substance called kerogen. This process is known as diagenesis.
👉 Thermal cracking: With further burial and increased temperature, the kerogen undergoes thermal cracking, breaking down into simpler hydrocarbon compounds.
👉 Formation of crude oil: The smaller hydrocarbon molecules formed during thermal cracking combine to form crude oil, which is a mixture of various hydrocarbons like gasoline, diesel, and other liquid petroleum products.
👉 Migration: Crude oil, being less dense than the surrounding rocks, migrates upwards through permeable rock layers until it encounters a trapping mechanism like impermeable rocks or geological structures.
👉 Refinement: Once crude oil is extracted from underground reservoirs, it is sent to refineries where it undergoes various processes like distillation, cracking, and reforming to separate and refine the different hydrocarbon components, including the production of gasoline or petrol.
It's important to note that the formation of petrol is a very lengthy process taking millions of years, and it is a non-renewable resource.
A non-renewable resource is that natural resource which cannot be readily replaced as it takes millions of years in its formation. As the formation takes such long time, its obvious that it cannot match the rate at which we are consuming it. And hence there will be always shortage of such things.
There are major four types of nonrenewable resources as oil, coal, natural gas and nuclear energy . Out of this 4 , three of them like gas, coal and natural gas are collectively called as fossil fuels.
