Fossil fuel
combustible fuel containing hydrocarbons formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms, examples being coal, petroleum and natural gas
A fossil fuel is a flammable carbon compound- or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants or microplanktons), a process that occurs within geological formations. Reservoirs of such compound mixtures, such as coal, petroleum and natural gas, can be extracted and burnt as fuel for human consumption to provide energy for direct use (such as for cooking, heating or lighting), to power heat engines (such as steam or internal combustion engines) that can propel vehicles, or to generate electricity via steam turbine generators. Some fossil fuels are further refined into derivatives such as kerosene, gasoline and diesel, or converted into petrochemicals such as polyolefins (plastics), aromatics and synthetic resins.
The origin of fossil fuels is the anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The conversion from these organic materials to high-carbon fossil fuels is typically the result of a geological process of millions of years. Due to the length of time it takes for them to form, fossil fuels are considered non-renewable resources.
In 2023, 77% of primary energy consumption in the world and over 60% of its electricity supply were from fossil fuels. The large-scale burning of fossil fuels causes serious environmental damage. Over 70% of the greenhouse gas emissions due to human activity in 2022 was carbon dioxide (CO2) released from burning fossil fuels. Natural carbon cycle processes on Earth, mostly absorption by the ocean, can remove only a small part of this, and terrestrial vegetation loss due to deforestation, land degradation and desertification further compounds this deficiency.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Fossil fuel” is combustible fuel containing hydrocarbons formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms, examples being coal, petroleum and natural gas. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Fossil, fuel and combustible, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “combustible fuel containing hydrocarbons formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms, examples being coal, petroleum and natural gas” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q12748. The Library of Congress control number is sh85051023. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2023 and 2022.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Fossil fuel” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.