In today's world, humans consume enormous amounts of fossil fuels. The top five oil-consuming countries in the world are the usual suspects. These include the United States, China, Japan, India and Russia. Canada ranks 10th with a daily consumption of 2,287 thousand barrels per day. There are three main types of fossil fuels: coal, oil and natural gas. These resources were formed during the Carboniferous period 360-286 million years ago. During this time the land was covered in swamps with large amounts of plants and algae-filled waters. When these plants and trees began to die they formed layers of peat. Hundreds and thousands of years would have passed adding sand and other materials on top of the peat. This formed the sedimentary rocks we know today. As thousands of years turned into millions of years, water from the peat layer was pushed out of the peat until the diatom layer turned into coal, oil, or natural gas (CEC, 2013). Canada has an oil industry across the country and currently 12 out of 13 provinces are active in the oil sector. Natural gas production occurs in British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec and New Brunswick. Natural gas could also become a major industry in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Oil production currently occurs in the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador (CAPP, 2013). Coal is one of the most abundant fossil fuels in the world. Coal was formed during the Carboniferous period when dead plant material was buried and subjected to high pressure and heat. Coal is classified based on moisture content and composition. There are four d...... middle of paper ......a.ca/OilSands/793.aspOil Sands Today. Accessed 2013.http://www.oilsandstoday.ca/whatareoilsands/Pages/RecoveringtheOil.aspxKoster, Vera. 02/05/2013. What is shale gas? How does fracking work?. Views of chemistry. http://www.chemistryviews.org/details/education/1316813/What_is_Shale_Gas_How_Does_Fracking_Work.htmlFracFocus. 2013. Hydraulic Fracturing: The Process. Frac Focus.http://fracfocus.org/hydraulic-fracturing-how-it-works/hydraulic-fracturing-processJenkins, Scott. 2012. Water Reuse Frac. Chemical Engineering. 119(2):14-16. Grottenhaler, David. 2011. Water recycling for hydraulic fracturing. Mechanical Engineering. 133(12):21-24.Canadian Power Pipeline Association. Accessed 2013. http://www.cepa.com/about-pipelines/economic-benefits-of-pipelines/economic-factsTrans Canada. Accessed 2013.http://keystone-xl.com/about/the-project/