The Advantages of Fossil Fuels - what are they?The advantages of fossil fuels are often overlooked amongst our worries about climate change. Fuel sources such as coal, oil and gas have provided developed nations with the industrial and economic might they have today. In both the US and Australia, coal fired power stations produce the bulk of the electricity consumed by these countries. 
Take a look at this very recent breakdown of Australia's energy production from the Australian Uranium Association, 2007. Coal, oil and gas provide us with 92.2% of our energy needs. By comparison solar power provides us with less than one tenth of one percent.Now let's see the same thing for the US, courtesy of the US Department of Energy for 2005:
The breakdown is different, with petroleum and gas being more prominent. Here too fossil fuels provide 86% of the power output, whereas solar power makes up only 0.7% of the total electricity supply. The advantages of fossil fuels are clear in terms of meeting national energy needs in this case, though only through lack of development of suitable alternatives. Given the fact that our energy demands are ever increasing, it is difficult to see how the large industrialized nations will be able to significantly reduce their dependence on fossil fuels in the immediate term. There is also a lot of talk in the media here in Australia about governments aiming to get their national emissions back to pre-1990 levels, and how they are working to increase the role that renewable energy plays in this. Let's have a look at some energy production statistics from the United Kingdom, courtesy of their Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform:
This shows us that in the last 26 years the UK's reliance on fossil fuels has not decreased at all; 74.5% of the UK's electricity was from fossil fuels in 1980, and in 2006 it is still 74.5%. The United Kingdom government has been working tirelessly to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions from energy consumption. Here's a look at the UK's energy consumption by sectors:
So it appears from this that in the UK growth in energy consumption is not that high. The complete report these last two graphs are taken from is the UK Energy in Brief 2007 (that link will open in a separate window). This is a free download and is excellent reading if you have the time. Such information is not readily available for the US or for Australia. It is necessary for us to have all the facts so that we are able to see what the trends in our energy use are, how the energy market is changing, what our emission levels are, and so on. We can't just say "there are no advantages of fossil fuels" and think that the problem will be solved. We need to look at our personal and national energy use, and keep looking at it. If we can reduce our energy use, our emissions will go down. That is just as important as replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources.
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