Coal

By: Charlotte, Mack, Vivian, Maddie D. =**__COAL:__**= toc Coal is a black combustible rock mined from the ground, generally used to provide heat and generate energy. There is much concern over the environmental effects that the burning of the substancecan have on our enviornment. Coal was first used as a heat source, because people found it burned cleaner than regular wood. But, during the Industrial Revolution, coal took off as the leading source of energy, powering trains and factories, the two extremely profitable industries of that time period. [|HISTORY]

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 * ==**ADVANTAGES**== ||  ||
 * Abundance || "Coal is located almost universally,it can be found on every continent in over 70 countries, with the biggest reserves in the USA, Russia, China and India." ||
 * Predictable/Reliable Source of Power || "Coal Based Energy can be generated almost 24×7 unlike other forms of renewable energy like wind and solar that are intermittent in nature." ||
 * Low Capital Investment || "The capital investment required for Coal based Power plants is relatively less at $1-2/watt of Thermal Capacity...Coal Mines are also quite cheap to build and Mine with Open Cast Mines providing Coal at a very Low Cost." ||
 * Low Cost || "Coal is one of the cheapest forms of energy making it the energy of choice in developing countries like India and China....Coal based electricity can be produced at 2-4c/KwH making it the cheapest electricity source." ||
 * High Load Factor || "Coal Based Plants which have become too old or have been shutdown due to environmental concerns can still be used for backup power." ||
 * Large Potential compared to Oil || "Coal Reserves globally are estimated to be around 1 trillion tons which implies that Coal can be consumed at the current rates for another 200 years." ||
 * Big Industrial Base || "The technology and industry of the Coal Industry and Thermal Power Plants is well developed and mature.This allows a rapid deployment of Coal Power in most places in the world." ||
 * Coal to Liquids and Coal to Gases || "Coal is now being looked upon as source of Transportation Fuels as Oil becomes scarce and increasingly costly.Coal to Liquid Plants are being constructed in India and China though the Technology is quite immature and the use of the technology is still questionable on environmental grounds." ||
 * || [|Green World Investor] ||


 * ==**DISADVANTAGES**== ||  ||
 * Greenhouse Gas Emissions || "Coal Energy releases Carbon Dioxide which has been sequestered for millions of years in the dead bodies of plant and animals." ||
 * Coal Mining Deaths || There are thousands of deaths when coal mining, and have been since it started. ||
 * Devastation of Earth and Scenery Near Coal Mines || "Open Cast Mining of Coal has resulted in destruction of the habitat and destruction of the scenery.It leads to removal of trees and pollution of air and water in areas surrounding the mines." ||
 * Displacement of Humans due to Mining Destruction || In West Bengal, India, people are being moved due to the status of the land because of coal mining. ||
 * Emission of Harmful Substances || "Thermal Plants emit harmful substances such as Mercury and Sulfur Dioxide which cause health hazards among the surrounding population and Acid Rain.While modern equipment has reduced the emission of these harmful substances,it is still very harmful to humans." ||
 * || [|Green World Investor] ||

=**__COAL IN THE UNITED STATES:__**= There are an estimated 847 billion metric tonnes, or approximately 933 short tons (US) of proven (reserves considered recoverable) coal reserves all over the world according to the [|World Coal Association]. Of that number, the US has 275 billion of them, approximately 30% of the world's [|coal]. Subsequently, the Union of Concern Scientists state that 54% of the United States electricity comes from coal. [|BNSF Coal Reserves] This toxic pollution causes serious health problems, including brain damage. Almost 2/3 of coal-fired plants lack the needed modern pollution controls to keep toxic air pollution, like mercury, acid gases and arsenic, out of our air and water. " [|SIERRACLUB]
 * "**Coal plants are one of the largest sources of man-made mercury pollution in the U.S. Every year 300,000 infants are born at risk for developmental defects because of their mother's exposure to toxic mercury pollution.

"Coal is naturally contaminated with mercury, and when it is burned to generate electricity, mercury is released into the air through the smokestacks." [|Natural Resources Defence Council].

[|MOTHERJONES]

On Thursday, May 3, 2012 the [|Las Vegas Sun] published an article, "Nevada tribe fights coal plant in pollution battle" and addressed the coal pollution in Nevada, and how it is affecting the lives of the residences. [|Las Vegas Sun] = = =**__COAL WORLDWIDE:__**= AUSTRALIA - "Brown coal is the least purest form of coal and contains a lot of moisture. A by-product of burning coal is sulfur, which inevitably reacts in the atmosphere to create sulfuric acid. Apparently coal has been going through a boom period, with India and China burning more and more of it. Like other energy sources, it is in demand. Coal allows Australia to be a net energy exporter."[|southsarepublic.org] [|southsarepublic.org]

CANADA - "Coal plants kill 668 people per year in Ontario, says the report, and cause 1,100 emergency room visits, and more than 300,000 minor illnesses per year." EVWORLD CHINA - The majority of the success that China has had with their industrial power has resulted in intense pollution. The New York Times reported that Beijing, and much of China and it's population, was suffering from the coal-fired power plants.

**__COAL COST AND TRADE__:** Coal Trade "Coal is traded all over the world, with coal shipped huge distances by sea to reach markets. Over the last twenty years:
 * seaborne trade in steam coal has increased on average by about 7% each year
 * seaborne coking coal trade has increased by 1.6% a year.

Overall international trade in coal reached 1083Mt in 2010; while this is a significant amount of coal it still only accounts for about 16% of total coal consumed. Most coal is used in the country in which it is produced."according to the [|World Coal Association].

Coal prices have been cheaper and more stable than oil and gas prices. Coal is likely to remain the most affordable fuel for power generation in many developing and industrialized countries for decades.

An artice on [|npr]talks about U.S. coal mining companies trying to sell the coal that they produce on the global market as oppesed to continuing to sell it to homebuyers in the U.S.. "Coal producers in Wyoming and Montana are hoping new export terminals will be built in Washington state so they can ramp up their sales to China." Says Richard Harris, an author on [|npr]. "But a thriving export market could also drive up the price of coal here in the United States. If the U.S. enters the global market in a bigger way in the future, the price of coal in the international market will increasingly affect our prices at home. If coal companies can sell coal for, say, $100 a ton on the world market, they will be less inclined to keep selling it for $20 a ton at home." =**__HEALTH EFFECTS__**=

[|ROCKYMOUNTAININSTITUTE]

Some of the health defects from coal pullution can result to death and or harm in the respiratory, cardiovascular and nervous system(s). Physicians for Social Responsibility today released a groundbreaking medical report, "Coal's Assault on Human Health," which takes a new look at the devastating impacts of coal on the human body. By examining the impact of coal pollution on the major organ systems of the human body, the report concludes that coal contributes to four of the top five causes of mortality in the U.S. and is responsible for increasing the incidence of major diseases already affecting large portions of the U.S. population. A copy of the full report can be found at __http://www.psr.org/coalreport__. [|PRNEWSWIRE] [|OHIOCITIZEN]

=**__ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS:__**=

media type="youtube" key="vXpgkqfpx7M" height="315" width="420" The [|Union of Concern Scientists] said that in an average year a coal generation plant will generate 3,700,000 tons of carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming. USCUSA states that coal mines destroy the landscape by maipulating the land to obtain coal. The trains that transport the coal pollute the air with exhaust, emitting 1 million tons of nitrogen oxide and 52,000 tons of small particles. Coal energy factories' uncovered coal piles get blown by the wind and runoff by rain. They use about 2.2 billion gallons of water each year and after adding chemicals and heating the water, release it again into the original water source, polluting water, killing fish and affecting the ecosystem and the people who drink the water, "Waste created by a typical 500-megawatt coal plant includes more than 125,000 tons of ash and 193,000 tons of sludge from the smokestack scrubber each year. Nationally, more than 75% of this waste is disposed of in unlined, unmonitored onsite landfills and surface impoundments. Toxic substances in the waste -- including arsenic, mercury, chromium, and cadmium -- can contaminate drinking water supplies and damage vital human organs and the nervous system. One study found that one out of every 100 children who drink groundwater contaminated with arsenic from coal power plant wastes were at risk of developing cancer. Ecosystems too have been damaged -- sometimes severely or permanently -- by the disposal of coal plant waste." [|USCUSA]

In a [|CBS] article adressing introducing the coal industry to Portland, Oregon, some suggest that mining coal to send to China will provide much needed jobs in this recession, Kennedy said, "the U.S. believes it can export the environmental problems from coal, but it will find that mercury from its use in Asia washes up on the Pacific shore while acidifying the ocean." He beleived that this was an ethical battle as well as a physical battle, because it would be going against enviornmental stands in allowing mining.

The coal mining industry clears thousands of trees, plants and topsoil from mining ares and destroys forests and natural wildlife habitats each year. It also promotes soil erosion and flooding, and stirs up dust pollution. In the past ten years, 500 of the biggest mountains in West Virginia have been destroyed. Coal companies have created at least 6,800 fills to hold their mining wastes, and the government estimates that if this mining continues unabated in Appalachia it will destroy 1.4 million acres of land by 2020 according to [|Beyond Coal].

Coal was found to be an issue in Galax, Virginia, when four different groups filed a lawsuit against a United States coal company for polluting the water in the area. [|PLATTS].

=__**‍IMPROVEMENTS ‍**__= A [|NASA] article measured using an Ozone Monitoring Instrument that sulfur dioxide, a harmful air pollutant created by coal power plants in US, has decreased in the last decade. "The scientists attribute the decline in sulfur dioxide to the Clean Air Interstate Rule, a rule passed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2005 that called for deep cuts in sulfur dioxide emissions. In response to that rule, many power plants in the United States have installed desulfurization devices and taken other steps that limit the release of sulfur dioxide." Because of the Clean Air Act, levels of sulfur dioxide have dropped 75 percent. Researchers also hope to apply this strategy of monitoring polutents to other parts of the world as well as the US and possibly monitor for other contaminants that destroy the ozone.

[|GASP]is an enviornmental organization that communicates with the government and educates Pennsylvania about the effects of water, air, and land pollution and ways to prevent it, encouraging the community to participate and take action against pollution. At the center of this issue is coal, "Coal generates 54% of our electricity, and is the single biggest air polluter in the U.S." The effects of this are both short term and long term. Rivers are being rerouted, causing changes in the balance of ecosystems as well as human drinking water, "In Pennsylvania alone more then 3,200 miles of streams have been affected by various mining practices".

Scientists are working on ways to lower the costs and improve the efficiency of various carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies with a goal of capturing approximately 90% of the carbon dioxide from coal plants before it is emitted into the atmosphere and then storing it below the Earth's surface according to the [|Global CCS Institution]. According to the International Energy Agency, CCS could result in a 19% reduction of energy-related emissions to the atmosphere by 2050 if 3,000 CCS projects are put into place during the next four decades.

"Flue-Gas Desulfurization Units, commonly called scrubbers, have been developed to reduce sulfur emissions from burning coal by 90 percent or more. In certain coal plants, scrubbers can also help reduce mercury emissions, an added value that is still being further developed by scientists" according to an article on [|News 21]. "In the U.S., 110 coal-fired power plants already use more than 190 scrubbers. All coal-fired plants built after 1978 are required to have special devices, such as scrubbers, to reduce the sulfur released with coal combustion."

"Techniques have been developed to eliminate methane emissions both prior to and during mining and this has helped to significantly reduce methane related explosions in underground mines. Modern coal mines have rigorous safety procedures, health and safety standards and worker education and training, which have led to significant improvements in safety levels in both underground and opencast mining." Says [|World Coal Association].