Advantages and Disadvantages

Hydrocarbon comes with advantages and disadvantages to our society, here are some:

Advantages

• We can use hydrocarbons as fuel. Hydrocarbons can be burned to release energy.
• Can be cheap.
• Provides energy quickly and is moderately reliable.
• The amount of carbon dioxide released can be controlled.
• The amount of other gases released, such as sulfur impurities, can also be reduced by being refined further (although this process would be expensive).

Disadvantages

• If complete combustion (when fuels burn in plenty of air) occurs, water and carbon dioxide are released. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, which restricts radiation of heat away from earth.
• If the hydrocarbon is burned in a limited supply of air, incomplete combustion occurs as there is insufficient oxygen to burn completely. Carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas, is release.
• If air supply is really restricted, carbon can be released as soot and smoke. The solid particles can be a respiratory irritant. Soot contributes to global dimming; the particles reflect the sun's rays back away from earth.
• Bigger problem with bigger molecules; require more oxygen to burn.
• Oil and coal contain sulfur compounds. When they burn, they release sulfur dioxide. As well as being a respiratory irritant, sulfur dioxide is dissolved by rain, making acid rain. This damages limestone buildings it also changes the PH of the soil (key links).
• Aggressive conditions cause the normally unreactive nitrogen to react. This forms nitrogen oxides, which are irritants and can also contribute to acid rain.

Evaluation

Although there are far more disadvantages than advantages of burning hydrocarbons, the main advantage is that it enables us to use energy that we utilise in our everyday lives, whether it be using electricity or driving a car. The disadvantages, however, can have devastating affects on the environment that will be irreversible, such as global warming. This endangers the lives of organisms living on Earth. Global dimming and 'acid rain' are also key problems. Fortunately, these issues can be resolved by refining the hydrocarbons to remove impurities, such as sulfur and nitrogen.