By Joseph Barnes

Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons, that are sourced from the organic remains of prehistoric organisms.

The commonly associated examples are Coal, Oil and Natural Gas.

To obtain this source, I performed a Google Search on Fossil Fuels and found this Secondary Research:

(http://www.discoveringfossils.co.uk/fossilfuels.htm) – It was extremely helpful to remind me what Fossil Fuels were.

As well as performing this Google Search, I also performed this YouTube search on how these Fossil Fuels are formed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8VqWKZIPrM – a well informed and very educational video that would be helpful to anyone studying the origins of Fossil Fuels.

In the beginning of 100 AD, not so long after the prehistoric age: it has been scientifically proven from archaeologists that the Romans found and made the use of coal.

Not too long afterwards the oil was first discovered in 347 AD in China; where the wells were drilled down up to 800 feet deep.

To find these facts out: I typed into Google “When were Fossil fuels discovered?” and I clicked onto these websites: with the following sources: http://www.fossil.energy.gov/education/energylessons/coal/coal_history.html - The information is exceptionally relevant, which I think is important for referencing information.

http://www.sjvgeology.org/history/ - This website is well-resourced and organised, therefore I think it is a good site.

Coal is a pivotal material to the modern world. It was even the main source of power to drive the industrial revelation in the 20th century.

It is commonly used to heat homes and factories, and to generate electricity to power machines.

About 35% of the UK’s electricity is generated by coal. The largest coal station being Drax in Yorkshire.

I discovered these facts on a website known as Energy zone, as a form of Secondary Research:

www.energyzone.net/aboutenergy/fossil_fuels.asp - It is good at getting straight to the point, and it organises the information in an orderly fashion.

Oil too is very important in the Fossil fuel industry, as it is involved in the manufacture of synthetic and plastic materials.

The discoveries of Oil in the late 1960s and early 1970s provided a major boost to the UK economy.

This too was found on the website Energy zone which defined Oil and reminded me what it was: www.energyzone.net/aboutenergy/fossil_fuels.asp - see the previous slide for my review on this website.

Oil

Fossil fuels are one of the greatest pollution hazards in existence and arguably the biggest contributors to global warming. This infographic details how and why:

I searched “The Greenhouse Effect” on Google Images and found this on www.GreenPeace.org. – The information is easy to understand, important for getting across simple informative abstracts. Another example of secondary research.

The pollution caused by burning Fossil Fuels is important, and a concern that needs looking into. I found this data on this website article and I learnt about the effects that burning Fossil Fuels can have on the environment:

http://courses.engr.illinois.edu/npre201/coursematerial/environmental_effects/lecture19.html - This website contributes heavily to information, which is not necessarily a bad thing but the reader can get bored of taking in so much writing.

Based on my conclusions, I can say that the hazards of working in a factory of Fossil Fuels can damage health and produce dirty grit. It contributes to acid rain too.

The awareness of Fossil fuels from other people is higher than ever, but still not everybody.

Sometimes, secondary research could be unreliable for me, therefore I concocted primary research to obtain reliable results.

An example I did was a questionnaire on Fossil Fuel pollution for my class to fill out. I learnt from this research that the majority of people know what a Fossil Fuel is and the damage it can cause to this planet by burning them. They continue to support the environment but do not know what they can do to improve the situation.

Another example of primary research I did were two interviews with two people on Fossil Fuels. I learnt from these interviews that it is being considered using Hydrogen as a fuel source. When it is burned, its only waste product is water. I didn’t learn much from the other interview, but this has taught me that, some people are not well educated in the subject of Fossil Fuels.

To bring some originality to my research, and my presentation, I decided to search for similar projects to see what kinds of styles, layouts and products already exist. this is why I also did Market Research too. To contribute to this, I compared two different presentations on Fossil Fuels, one being on PowerPoint and one being a YouTube face camera video. Here is the comparison:

>The presentation is well detailed, with attractive colours and many pictures to present the information in an engaging way.

>The YouTube video uses a series of sketches which is innovative at first, but gets boring to look at after a while.