Non-renewable energy: (crude oil)


Crude oil is usually found in underground areas called reservoirs. It is liquid in nature and yellowish black in colour. They are composed mainly of hydrocarbons and organic compounds. They are usually discovered by oil prospecting scientists.

Sometimes, petroleum and crude oil are used to mean the same thing, but petroleum itself is a broad range of petroleum products including crude oil itself. Crude oil can exists either deep down in the earth's surface or deep below the ocean beds. Oil drills mounted in the oceans are known as offshore dillsIn oil drilling, a structure called 'derrick' is built with pipes going down to the reservoir and bringing the oil to the surface.The process of generating electricity from crude oil is very similar to that of thermal coal, which we saw in the previous page.

Below is a summary of the process that turns crude oil into electricity:

1. Energy stepThis steam is used to spin a turbine very fast by pushing against metal blades.
2. Energy stepThe blades turn a generator containing wires and magnets and magnetic field produces electricity. 
3. Energy stepThe electricity flows to a transformer, which changes it to very high voltage electricity. The transformer also regulates the amount of electricity that is produced and supplied.
4. Energy stepElectricity is sent to homes, factories and other places in the world.

But Crude Oil can be used for other things too:

A great chunk of all the total crude oil in the world is processed as gasoline, which we use for our cars.