Fuels that are less harmful than fossil fuel (coal, oil and natural gas) include:
- Electricity generated from renewable sources like solar, wind, water and thermal power. (No carbon dioxide emitted to the atmosphere.)
- Biofuel, which is usually petroleum or diesel produced from new organic material (plants that have grown recently). (The plants absorbed carbon dioxide as they were growing, and this is released again, making biofuel "carbon neutral".)
- Methane captured from rotting organic material in landfill or from animal manure. (This prevents methane escaping into the atmosphere. Methane is a much more dangerous greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.)
They are less harmful than fossil fuel because they do not release the carbon that has been stored for millions of years (this happens when fossil fuels are burnt).
