How does the fossil fuel coal contain energy from the sun?
Plants use the energy from the sun to make food. They depend on sunlight to power chemical reactions vital for life. In a number of instances, plants that lived long ago died, and their remains built up in a layer or layers. As more and more overburden was deposited on top of the layer, compression and time changed the “plant material” into coal. This gives rise to the idea that the fossil fuel coal contains energy from the sun.