Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy. Providing a wide view of what may be ahead. Resilience.org. Oil, Coal, and Gas Reserves, Peak Oil, Global Energy Use Statistics - Earth Web Site. World Reserves of Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas Coal has been used since the industrial revolution but only in the last 100 years have huge quantities of oil and gas been removed from underground reservoirs.
Oil and gas are used as fuel energy in combustion engines and as "feed stock" for other industries — raw materials for the manufacture of other chemicals, such as plastics and agricultural fertilizer. There is a limited amount of fossil fuel.