SINCE 1828
fossil fuel
nounDefinition of fossil fuel
: a fuel (such as coal, oil, or natural gas) formed in the earth from plant or animal remains
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Other Words from fossil fuel
fossil-fueled
\ ˈfä-səl-ˌfyü(-ə)ld 
\
adjective
\
adjective
Examples of fossil fuel in a Sentence
oil and other fossil fuels
Recent Examples on the Web
The president, who campaigned alongside coal miners and oil and gas barons, believes the economic toll of converting energy production from fossil fuels to renewable sources is too great. — Arden Farhi, CBS News, "Trump avoids climate change in speech on environmentalism," 8 July 2019 Solar energy is widely considered an essential part of addressing climate change by weaning the electric grid from fossil fuels. — Ivan Penn, New York Times, "Florida, the Sunshine State, Is Slow to Adopt Rooftop Solar Power," 7 July 2019 Get our daily newsletter In these days of worry about global warming, another energy transition is under way: from fossil fuels to clean energy. — The Economist, "Shell’s boss delivers some hard truths on oil and climate change," 4 July 2019 The legislation would lower that cap over time to encourage businesses to move away from fossil fuels: The state would reduce emissions to 45% below 1990 levels by 2035 and 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. — NBC News, "Militia threat shuts down Oregon Capitol amid walkout by Republican lawmakers," 23 June 2019 The legislation would lower that cap over time to encourage businesses to move away from fossil fuels: The state would reduce emissions to 45% below 1990 levels by 2035, and 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. — Gillian Flaccus, The Denver Post, "Oregon governor orders police after Republican senators who fled Capitol," 20 June 2019 Solutions Cutting harmful, planet-warming pollution by switching away from fossil fuels is key to safeguarding Earth's tundra habitats. — Christina Nunez, National Geographic, "Tundra threats, explained," 19 June 2019 The young people argue that government officials have known for more than 50 years that carbon pollution from fossil fuels causes climate change and that policies promoting oil and gas deprive them of their constitutional rights. — Andrew Selsky, Anchorage Daily News, "Federal court weighs whether human-influenced climate change violates children’s rights," 5 June 2019 Biden proposes covering the taxpayer costs by repealing the corporate tax cuts that President Donald Trump signed in 2017, while eliminating existing subsidies to the fossil fuel companies. — Washington Post, "Joe Biden’s $5T climate plan: Net zero emissions by 2050," 4 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fossil fuel.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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