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[–] 102 points 2 years ago (19 children)

Ackchually, oil is mostly from plant matter.

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  • [–] 53 points 2 years ago* (4 children)

    TIL

    Does Oil Come From Dinosaur Fossils?

    It’s a commonly spread fiction that oil comes from dinosaurs because when people hear fossils, their brains immediately jump to dinosaurs. However, that’s not the case.

    The truth may be less exciting to some, but oil and other fossil fuels are not actually formed from the remains of dinosaurs. The oil we’re drilling and pumping to the surface as fuel is formed from diatoms, small organisms such as algae and bacteria that lived long before dinosaurs even existed. Source

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  • [–] 28 points 2 years ago (3 children)
  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

    We need to induct Randal into the wholesome four at some point.

    Edit: typo

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  • [–] 10 points 2 years ago (12 children)

    I am under the impression that's coal.

    Oil is from sea life. Though I did read that in the 80s so entirely possible its nonsense.

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  • [–] 16 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    Yes and no. They're both hydrocarbons.

    Coal is organic matter from dry land, so typically plants.

    Oil is from organic matter that fell to the ocean floor, so microbial life, algae and the like.

    But both are from and end up as the same types of organic molecules. Carbon and hydrogen.

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  • [+] 6 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (3 children)
  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    I guess algae and bacteria are close to plants.

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