Climate change is world issue, especially as population increases and is expected to increase by nine billion by 2050. Over thirty-percent of Duke Energy’s energy sources is coal-fired power plants (“Coal Energy”, n.d.) Moreover, power plants or electric generation contribute over thirty percent of greenhouse emissions (“Understanding Global”, n.d.). Extracting and burning of coal release many emissions: carbon dioxide, methane, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and residues like bottom ash. All of which, contribute to climate change and the health of the environment and its biotic factors (“Coal and”, n.d.). Simply discussing that burning coal contributes to climate change will not change anything, therefore action must be taken and this proposal
The U.S obtains more than 84% of its energy from fossil fuels including oil, coal and natural gas. This is because people rely on it to heat their homes, power industries, run vehicles, manufacturing, and provision of electricity. It is apparent that the country’s transportation industry highly depends on conventional petroleum oil, which is responsible for global warming, thus threatening economic opulence and national security. Apart from that, increasing consumption of fossil fuels have elevated health problems in the state, destroyed wild places, and polluted the environment. After conducting Environmental Impact Assessment, projections showed that the world energy consumption would increase by more than 56% between 2010 and 2040. However, fossil fuels will cater for more than 80% of the total energy used in 2040. Sadly, it will be a trajectory to alter the world’s climate, as well as, weaken the global security environment. Importantly, the rate at which the US relies on fossil fuels needs to reduce since it has adverse effects on the planet’s supplies. The society needs to realize that fossil fuels are nonrenewable, thus taking millions of years to form (Huebner, 2003). Notably, the country can reduce dependency on fossil fuels by practicing energy conservation and efficiency,
In this paper, we focus on using fossil fuels causing climate change. Fossil fuels are fuels formed natural resources such as coal, petroleum and natural gas, which are the most widely used fuel and industrial chemicals in the world. Since industrial revolution, fossil fuels bring a very great quantity convenience and technological products. So we can use cars, planes and all modern products. But fossil fuels cause climate change at the same time. Greenhouse gas, nitrous oxides and a great deal of harmful gas which are from fossil fuels are causing serious environmental problems. Therefore we need to be concerned about the problems caused by fossil fuels and the solutions.
Clean coal technology usually addresses atmospheric problems resulting from burning coal. Historically, the primary focus was on sulfur dioxide and particulates, since it is the most important gas in the causation of acid rain. More recent focus has been on carbon dioxide (due to its impact on global warming) as well as other pollutants. Concerns exist regarding the economic viability of these technologies and the timeframe of delivery, potentially high hidden economic costs in terms of social and environmental damage, and the costs and viability of disposing of removed carbon and other toxic matter. More, the byproducts of coal power production range from fly ash sludge ponds full of mercury, arsenic, and sulfur in unlined ponds that can leak into the water supply.
Carbon emissions are changing the planet for the worse. Energy production (mostly coal) is producing a one third of the US 's global warming emissions. Renewable sources produce little to zero percent. The balance of coal and renewable energy in the U.S. needs to be evened out with renewable techniques. Statistics from the Union of Concerned Scientist’s “Benefits of Renewable Energy Use” show that most renewable resources emit less than one pound of CO2E/kWh. These have significantly less of a carbon footprint than coal, which emits 1.4 to 3.6 lbs. CO2E/kWh or natural gas, which emits .6 to 2 lbs. CO2E/kWh. This impressive difference of carbon emissions between renewable and fossil fuel is the key to caring for our environment. A 2009 USC study found that if 25 percent of the US 's
This paper explores the economic impact the Clean Power Plan, as proposed by President Obama, would have on the coal industry and on society as a whole. The plan, also known as the CPP, has a goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by the year 2030. Many proponents of the coal industry claim that the CPP would harm the United States economy with little positive impact on the environment. The White House, other government agencies, scholarly organizations, and organizations regarding the protection of human health and the environment dispute these claims, stating that the CPP would actually lead to a net increase in employment, increased air quality, and an overall healthier society, all while promoting the renewable energy sector. After analyzing the data from both sides, it was determined in this paper that the overall benefits of the Clean Power Plan outweigh the costs, therefore the plan should go forward as planned.
The article, “Coal and the Environment”, provides the readers will and understanding of how coal works and also how it is dangerous to our environment. Coal on its own is not dangerous to the environment but once the coal is burned, then pollutants are released into the air causing for less clean air. The government has taken a stand on the industries polluting the air we breathe in everyday with the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. These two acts put restrictions on industries that allow for safer and cleaner air.
Coal’s reputation has become as black as coal itself, but without it the quality of life that hundreds of millions of people enjoy today would not be possible. Coal has been used in many ways throughout history and it will continue to be a vital resource in supplying the energy needed to fuel an energy hungry world. Research cited throughout this paper suggests that coal is an energy source for the future because it is stable and reliable with abundant reserves, it is the most affordable and efficient fuel source used to produce power, and because of new clean coal technologies, coal can be burned with minimal to no damage to the environment.
What is Pollution? Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can be in forms of chemical substances, such as heat noise or light. What are pollutants? A pollutant is a substance that pollutes something, especially water or the atmosphere. How is coal related to pollution? Coal is related to pollution in two ways . . . the first one is by CO2 emissions that absorb ultraviolet rays from the sun which causes temperatures to rise, the second one is causing pollution because when it’s being mined it’s destroying public land and mountains. The CO2 emissions are caused by the chemicals in the coal. Coal is made up of mostly Carbon but also has many traces of Sulfur, Nitrogen, Hydrogen,
Coal has been combusted for fuel for thousands of years. However it was not until the last few decades that the consequences of coal use have been fully realized and effort has been taken to lessen the severe environmental harm that can come from the combustion of coal. The fact of the matter is no matter how much we may dislike coal and the detrimental effects of it we, as a nation, depend on coal to live our lives. When we flip a switch and a light turns on we don’t give it a second thought but its not always that simple. Aside from coal’s significant contribution to climate change there have been other disasters stemming from coal and specifically the storage of contaminants extracted from coal combustion. One of the biggest man made environmental disasters of the millennia occurred just outside of Kingston, Tennessee in late 2008. This disaster though not as well publicized as many other disasters has been estimated to have released over 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash several times more contaminants by volume than the Exxon Valdeez oil spill in 1989 (Initial Emergency).
Australia has one of the world’s largest greenhouse gas emission footprints compared to its population on earth. As of 2006, Australia's emissions were the highest of any OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development) nation with 26.7 tonnes per person per year of equivalent carbon dioxide (Garnaut 2008). In comparison, the United States had just 20.6 tonnes per person per year of equivalent carbon dioxide in 2006 (Garnaut 2008). The largest contributor to Australia's emission footprint is the energy sector, accounting for 45.5% of emissions between 2005 and 2006 (Garnaut 2008). Further breaking this number down, we observe that ~79% of our electrical generation is done via coal (Garnaut 2008). Coal is a major cause of greenhouse
Imagine your daily life and how much technology is integrated into it, now, even if you don’t think that you use a lot of technology, remember that most of what we use today in our daily lives, need some sort of electricity to make it, or run it. We live in a world that is almost dependent upon electricity, modern life is unimaginable without electricity. Coal produces almost half of the electricity we use. There is much controversy about coal and why we rely on it so heavily. The question that emerges from this controversy is “should we be mining and processing as much coal as we do on a daily basis, and should we downscale, or find alternatives?”
It is clear that our country is approaching turmoil as the population continues to grow and our dependence on electrical power increases. With limited economic resources at our disposal, we must ensure that future power plants run on the same primary fuel. With that said, I hope you carefully consider my recommendations, as they are essential in maintaining the current and future state of our country. Although using coal as our primary energy resource has minor sociopolitical and scientific complications, the strategies to address these problems and the social, political, scientific, and economic advantages greatly outweigh the setbacks.
CO2 is the most significant greenhouse gas, which mainly comes from the use of fossil fuels. Many people feel that content of CO2 in the atmosphere is the main reason for manmade global warming. The main sources of CO2 emissions involve electricity generation, industrial processes, fumes from transportation and commercial buildings and use. Emissions of greenhouse gases, such as CO2, to the atmosphere are expected to cause even more of a significant change in global climate (Davison, 2007). The main focus to try to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is to reduce the amount that is released from coal-fired power plants. Greenhouse gas emissions that involve the productions of electricity come from natural gas production and coal-fired power plant operations. Natural gas production accounts for twenty-four percent and coal-fired power plant operations accounts for seventy-five percent, while the other one percent is caused by other electricity generation operations. The main reason why coal-fired power plants have a higher percentage of emissions is because the sulfur content of coal is much higher than that of other fossil fuels (Jarmaillo et al., 2007). This proves that there is a great need to find an alternative fossil fuel to use instead of coal. Although coal is easy to mine, transport and process for the electricity generation process, it is also the
When a person walk into a room, flip a switch and the light is turned on, this is due to fossil fuels. When a person up your computer or laptop to surf the web or do homework, this is also due to fossil fuels. Fossil fuels control the world as we know it today from powering our electronic devices, running our cars, improving our health and taking us into the depths of space. Without fossil fuels, society would inversely live like the people before the industrial era. However, as revealed just a few decades ago, fossil fuels are not without unintentional negative consequences. Even though fossil fuels have transformed the world as we know it, fossil fuels are scarce and causes ecological destruction through pollution, fracking and global warming.
3,000 years ago, human beings discovered coal and began to burn it in order to get heat and energy, which contributed to people’s lives a lot. However, it brought kinds of problems to the environment. During the process of burning, it produces carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and smoke. Those products may lead to acid rain and global warming that are harmful to the environment. Nevertheless, with the development of technologies, renewable energy sources and green technologies have been created. Thus, most people don’t use coal anymore and the environment has been protected. New technology changes people’s lives every