Question

Coal and Petroleum are examples of __________.
(a) Fossil Fuels
(b) Non- renewable resources
(c) Fuel Minerals
(d) All of these

Answer 1

Hint: Coal is one of the fuels used for preparing food. It is also used in thermal power plants for the generation of electricity. Petrol and diesel are made from a natural resource called petroleum. The term "petroleum" is derived from petra (rock) and oleum (oil) and it is extracted from the rocks below Earth.

Complete answer:
Fossil fuels are formed from the remains of the dead organisms buried under the earth for billions of years. These remains are called fossils. About 300 million years ago, the earth had thick, low-lying forests in the Wetland regions. Owing to natural processes, such as earthquakes, these trees have been submerged under the surface. When more soil was deposited over them, they became compressed. The temperature increased as they sunk deeper and deeper. Under high pressure and high temperature, dead plants eventually turned into coal. Since coal primarily comprises biomass, the gradual process of turning dead vegetation into coal is called carbonization. Since it was made from the remnants of trees, coal is also known as a fossil fuel. Petroleum was created by animals living in the water. As these species perished, their remains settled down at the bottom of the sea and coated by deposits of sand and mud. For millions of years, the lack of oxygen, high temperatures, and high pressure have turned dead species into petroleum and natural gas. That is why coal and petroleum are fossil fuels. They are also called fuel minerals because they can be used as fuel
They also come in the category of non-renewable resources because it took millions of years for dead species to turn to these fuels. On the other hand, the known quantities of these reserves would last just a few hundred years. Hence it is not practically possible to renew their reserves.

So, the correct answer is Option B.

Note: These fuels, unfortunately, contribute majorly to climate degradation and pollution, for which now there are global shifts from these exhaustible resources to more renewable and less polluting sources of energy such as solar energy.