Does Oil Cause Pollution?
While oil is a much cleaner fuel than coal in use it is not without its negative environmental factors. Some oil fields have particularly high natural sulphur content and burning such fuels will not only produce the usual combustion by-products of carbon dioxide and water, but also sulphur dioxide and sulphur trioxide which combine with atmospheric moisture to form sulphuric acids that result in acid rain. Perhaps the most immediately obvious pollution problem associated with oil is that caused by leaks, which can cause immense environmental damage very quickly with a lasting legacy.
