fossil fuel

plural fossil fuels

1. Any fuel derived from hydrocarbon deposits such as coal, petroleum, natural gas and, to some extent, peat; these fuels are non-renewable, and their burning moves carbon from underground into the atmosphere via the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.

   […]but we also have the technological means and know-how to help free America from the grip of fossil fuels.

   1980, Paul Schrader, American Gigolo, spoken by Charles Stratton (Brian Davies)

   2 more examples

   Without renewables, we’ll still end up burning (albeit much more efficiently) the same coal and natural gas that we burn today in our power plants and the same fuel oil that we burn in our cars and trucks. And it is precisely these carbon-based fossil fuels that we must distance ourselves from if we really want to come to grips with our dependence on foreign oil and with global warming.

   2006 October 11, Robert B. Semple Jr., “Beyond Fossil Fuels”, in New York Times

   The basic point is that we are entering uncharted territory. This toothless statement has been true at every point in history. But I believe that this century is the one in which we must confront the thorniest issue ever presented to the human race. This moment is special because we have dramatically built up our population, technology, science, medicine, and democratic institutions as a direct result of vast amounts of surplus energy stemming from a one-time resource. The fossil fuel experience has made us dangerously confident about our cleverness and dominance over nature. What makes this century special, then, is that we will have to cope with a diminishing supply rate of the resource that has been of paramount importance to our high-tech existence.

   2011 October 5, Tom Murphy, “"Sustainable" Means Bunkty to Me”, in Do the Math