I am oversimplifying quite a lot in my explanation of where petroleum, natural gas, and coal come from. Obviously, many chemical changes take place to transform micro-organisms into petroleum or natural gas and plants into coal. Also, some of the animal material is transformed into sedimentary rocks, and the petroleum or gas is found in "pores" in these rocks.
Even though I am not able to go into extreme detail in explaining the exact processes that go into producing petroleum, I hope that I have raised your interest in where gasoline really comes from. I also hope that the next time you hear someone say that oil comes from dinosaurs, that you will take the time to explain that petroleum actually comes from tiny micro-organisms.
Go To Page: 1 2
