Title: fossil fuel
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - fossil fuel
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.F02490
Status: current

Definition
A fuel such as coal, oil and natural gas which has formed over many years through the decomposition of deposited vegetation which was under extreme pressure of an overburden of earth.

Related Term
- decomposition: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/D01547

Source
- PAC, 1990, 62, 2167. 'Glossary of atmospheric chemistry terms (Recommendations 1990)' on page 2190 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199062112167)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/F02490/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/F02490/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/F02490/xml

Citation: Citation: 'fossil fuel' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.F02490
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Accessed: 2026-07-01T00:05:25+00:00