What are the main fuels we burn, and what do we use each one for?
Topic 6.3 Fuel Types and Uses: identify the major fuel types (coal, oil, natural gas, biomass) and describe their main uses and relative impacts.
A focused answer to APES Topic 6.3, covering the major fuel types (coal, crude oil, natural gas, biomass), the grades of coal, what each fuel is mainly used for, their relative energy density and emissions, with a worked combustion energy calculation.
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What this topic is asking
The College Board (Topic 6.3) wants you to identify the major fuel types (coal, oil, natural gas, biomass) and describe their main uses and relative impacts.
The major fuel types
What each is used for
Relative impacts
Why this matters
Knowing each fuel's main use and relative impact lets you reason about energy choices throughout Units 6, 7 and 9. Switching from coal to natural gas, for example, cuts emissions per unit of energy; switching from fossil fuels to renewables cuts them further. The fuels also link back to the carbon cycle of Unit 1.
Try this
Q1. Identify the fossil fuel used mainly for transportation. [1 point]
- Cue. Petroleum (oil), refined into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.
Q2. Explain why natural gas is considered a cleaner fossil fuel than coal. [2 points]
- Cue. Natural gas (methane) burns more completely and releases less carbon dioxide and fewer pollutants such as sulfur and particulates per unit of energy than coal does.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of College Board exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AP 2021 (style)4 marksSection II (FRQ). (a) Identify the fossil fuel most used to generate electricity worldwide and one used mainly for transport. (b) Describe the difference between lignite and anthracite coal. (c) Explain why natural gas is often described as a cleaner fossil fuel. (d) Identify one common use of biomass as a fuel.Show worked answer →
A 4-point FRQ on fuel types and uses.
(a) Identify (1 point): coal is most used for electricity generation; oil (petroleum products) is used mainly for transport.
(b) Describe (1 point): lignite is low-grade, soft coal with low carbon content and energy density; anthracite is high-grade, hard coal with high carbon content and energy density.
(c) Explain (1 point): natural gas burns more completely and releases less carbon dioxide and fewer pollutants per unit of energy than coal or oil.
(d) Identify (1 point): burning wood, charcoal, dung or crop residues for heating and cooking.
Markers reward coal for electricity and oil for transport, the lignite-to-anthracite quality contrast, the lower emissions per unit energy for gas, and a valid biomass use.
AP 2019 (style)1 marksSection I (multiple choice). Which fossil fuel is used primarily for transportation? (A) Coal (B) Petroleum (oil) (C) Uranium (D) Natural gas (mostly). Justify your choice.Show worked answer →
A 1-point MCQ on fuel uses. The answer is (B).
Petroleum (oil) is refined into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, so it dominates transportation. Coal (A) is used mainly for electricity and steel; uranium (C) is nuclear fuel, not a fossil fuel; natural gas (D) is used mainly for electricity, heating and industry. The trap is assuming all fossil fuels are interchangeable; each has a dominant use set by its form and energy density.
Related dot points
- Topic 6.5 Fossil Fuels: explain how fossil fuels form and are used to generate electricity, and describe their environmental impacts, including cogeneration.
A focused answer to APES Topic 6.5, covering how fossil fuels form, how a fossil-fuel power plant generates electricity, fracking, cogeneration, and the environmental impacts of coal, oil and gas, with a worked power plant efficiency calculation.
- Topic 6.2 Global Energy Consumption: describe patterns of global energy use and the factors, including development and population, that drive demand.
A focused answer to APES Topic 6.2, covering global patterns of energy consumption, the dominance of fossil fuels, differences between more and less developed countries, the drivers of demand (population, economic development, lifestyle), and a worked per capita energy calculation.
- Topic 6.7 Energy from Biomass: describe how biomass and biofuels are used for energy and evaluate their benefits and drawbacks.
A focused answer to APES Topic 6.7, covering biomass and biofuels (wood, charcoal, dung, crop residues, ethanol, biodiesel), how they are used, their advantages and disadvantages, the carbon-neutrality debate, and a worked ethanol energy calculation.
- Topic 6.4 Distribution of Natural Energy Resources: explain why energy resources are unevenly distributed and the consequences of that uneven distribution.
A focused answer to APES Topic 6.4, covering why fossil fuels and renewable resources are unevenly distributed across the globe, how geology and geography determine availability, and the economic and political consequences of that uneven distribution, with a worked import dependence calculation.
- Topic 1.4 The Carbon Cycle: describe the major reservoirs and fluxes of the carbon cycle and explain how natural processes and human activities move carbon between them.
A focused answer to APES Topic 1.4, covering carbon reservoirs and fluxes, photosynthesis and respiration, decomposition, combustion, the ocean as a carbon sink, and how fossil fuel burning alters the cycle, with a worked carbon-flux calculation.
Sources & how we know this
- AP Environmental Science Course and Exam Description — College Board (2020)