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Science 5: One More Look at the Fossil Fuel Cycle 3 Views
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Description:
We'd like to meet the first person to think, "Hey, let's dig up a decomposing dinosaur and use it to power our cars." We'd be willing to bet they were an odd duck.
Transcript
- 00:04
[Dino and Coop singing]
- 00:13
By now, we have a pretty good idea what fossil fuels are: nonrenewable energy resources that [Nodding donkey oil pump]
- 00:18
come from decomposed bodies that are hundreds of millions of years old.
- 00:22
Simple enough!
- 00:23
Also, kinda gross!
Full Transcript
- 00:24
But do we know the process it took to get from the original forms of life to fossil fuels? [Boy in a lab using a microscope]
- 00:30
It's a pretty complicated, delicate recipe.
- 00:31
Seriously, it's way more difficult than the recipe for even the fanciest of cakes.
- 00:36
Plus, it takes a few billion years, which is a lot longer than most kitchen timers can measure.
- 00:41
It all started billions of years ago, when the only living things on Earth were tiny
- 00:45
little bacteria that lived in the ocean. [Bacteria floating round in the ocean]
- 00:48
In time, those bacteria made their way to the surface of the ocean…
- 00:50
…and with the help of energy from the sun, they eventually evolved into green plants.
- 00:55
These plants made some big changes.
- 00:58
Unlike humans and other animals, who inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, plants do [Bear breathing in oxygen]
- 01:03
the opposite.
- 01:04
They take in carbon dioxide, and release oxygen.
- 01:08
So over millions of years, all of these green plants gradually released more and more oxygen…
- 01:13
…until there was enough oxygen for animals like us to survive. [Tree giving off oxygen with birds flying above]
- 01:17
You might not like Brussels sprouts, but you owe their ancestors your life.
- 01:23
Maybe send them a Hallmark card, or something.
- 01:25
These plants did more than just create oxygen, though.
- 01:27
They also made carbon chains, which animals would then eat.
- 01:31
So after a while, there were a whole bunch of carbon chains all over the place.
- 01:35
When these plants and animals died, some of them, and their carbon chains, would get buried [Dinosaur collapses onto the floor]
- 01:39
under stuff like rocks, dirt, or silt.
- 01:42
And over millions of years, a mix of pressure from above…
- 01:44
…and heat from below turned these carbon chains into fossil fuels.
- 01:49
And sure, a puddle of oil is nowhere near as appetizing as a birthday cake, but that's [Cake tray is removed from an oven]
- 01:53
why it's always important to check your recipe before you start baking.
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