Coal As A Fossil Fuel

1 What is coal? Coal is a substance we consider today a fossil fuel, created from all the dead plants millions of years ago. Coal is formed from prehistoric plants that when they die are not able to release the energy they built up from photosynthesis Typically the plants had fallen into large swamps and bogs, and then over time the dead plants lying on the bottom of the swamps and bogs were slowly covered with other dead plants and sediment build-up. Once buried the plants were subjected to high amounts of pressure and temperatures, which over long periods of time it becomes peat then eventually creates coal. We refer to coal as a “fossil fuel” today because it is created from prehistoric plants and the coal we have today has been millions of years since it was in plant form. Today we coal is still being created we just don’t fully recognize it because how long the process actually takes.

Coal is the dirtiest of all fossil fuels. When burned, it produces emissions that contribute to global warming, create acid rain and pollute water. With all of the talk surrounding nuclear energy, hydropower and biofuels, you might be forgiven for thinking that grimy coal is finally on its way out. On the other hand, coal is no sooty remnant of the Industrial Revolution - it generates half of the electricity in the United States and will likely continue to do so as long as it's cheap and plentiful . Clean coal technology seeks to reduce harsh environmental effects by using multiple technologies to clean. Coal is a fossil fuel composed primarily of carbons and hydrocarbons. Its ingredients help make plastics, tar and fertilizers. A coal derivative, a solidified carbon called coke, melts iron ore and reduces it to create steel. But most coal - 92 percent of the U.S. supply - goes into power production .Electric companies and businesses with power plants burn coal to make the steam that turns turbines and generates electricity. When coal burns, it releases carbon dioxide and other emissions in flue gas, the billowing clouds you see pouring out of smoke stacks. Some clean coal technologies purify the coal before it burns. One type of coal preparation, coal washing, removes unwanted minerals by mixing crushed coal with a liquid and allowing the impurities to separate and settle. Other systems control the coal burn to minimize emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and

Coal is a sedimentary material the amount of pyrite in coal is related to the amount of disposal organic material that was compressed and formed

The energy we get from coal today comes from the energy that plants absorbed from the sun millions of years ago. When an area is to be mined, topsoil and subsoil are removed from the rock and so is another material, call overburden, to expose the bed of coal. All living plants give solar energy through photosynthesis. When plants die the energy gets out as the plants decay. The whole decaying process gets interrupted which prevents the release of the stored solar energy, then the energy stays locked in the coal. The plant material gets subjected to high temperatures and pressures which causes physical and chemical changes in the vegetation, transforming it into peat and then into coal. The formation of peat is the first step in the geological formation of fossil fuels such as coal. Peat plants is not only the first step for formation but they also capture CO2 itself. There are many effect to the environment when it comes to coal; an example is AMD which stands for Acid mine drainage; it includes the outflow of acidic water from coal mines or metal mines. Mines exposed rocks containing pyrite which reacts to water and air to form acid and dissolved iron and can easily wash into rivers and streams. Coal is a huge impact when it comes to hurting our

Coal has been around for 250 million years, but only has been used since the 1800’s first by trains and now for energy all around the world and many other things that people couldn't think of! Coal is a combustible sedimentary organic rock which is composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. It is formed from vegetation which has been consolidated between two other rock strata and altered by the combined effects of pressure and heat over millions of years to form coal seams. There are over 174,000 jobs in the U.S associated with coal and 83,000 of them are mining jobs, Coal miners have found many ways to extract coal from the ground which includes, surface mining, longwall mining, room and pillar mining, and underground mining. “Surface

The author states that Coal ash, also known as coal combustion residuals and is produced from the burning of coal in coal-fired power plants. The different types of coal ash described by the EPA is, fly ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, and flue gas material. The kind of ash released from the dike in the Kingston Fossil Plant was fly ash stated in previous sources. The EPA also provides us with information about what the power plants do with the coal ash such as, the disposing of the coal ash into landfills or recycled into products used in everyday life. Coal can also be used for environmental benefits, economic benefits, and also product benefits. The EPA regulates coal ash because it contains dangerous contaminants such as mercury, cadmium, and arsenic. Without proper regulation these contaminants can pollute waterways, drinking water, air, and ground water. The need for these regulations were found during the coal ash spills occurring in Kingston, TN and Eden, NC. This source is credible because it comes from a government website that is factual and

Coal Bed Typically formed about 300 million years ago, flooding of dense forests and low-lying wetlands caused vegetation to be buried and over time, compressed. In combination with heat and protection from oxidation by more mud or acidic water the vegetation was converted to coal.

United States. When the waste of coal after it burns(aka coal ash) is accumlated it is then dumped into a pond. A pipe

The mining of fossil coal started in Australia very early, in 1908 there were more than 1900 tons produced from the south coast of Australia and since that time, discoveries of more coal never stopped which encouraged more European settlement to expand through out Australia.

In how many ways can coal impact the environment? Coal is a type of rock that consists of plant matter, and it is one of the two fossil fuels. It is transferred into energy by the powder being burned, then the heat turns the water into steam and the high pressure heat turns a turbine, which is connected to a generator. Coal energy impacts the environment by, providing jobs, a stable energy source, and the pollution it gives off.

Coal is a natural resource that is made up of carbonized plants that is found underground in coal pockets. Coal is used as fuel in numerous things, including electricity generation, steel production, and cement manufacturing. Coal is very flammable, so it's great for producing energy. Coal contains things like hydrogen, sulphur, oxygen and some amounts of nitrogen. Those ingredients make coal extremely flammable.

Instead of animals and plants under water, coal is made from plants that have died at the bottom of a swamp and have been pressed down by layers of soil and dirt (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2014). These processes are similar because they both include pressure being the source of the energy creation and the length of time being millions of years.

The coal seams are generally filled with water and it is the pressure of the water that keeps the gas as a thin film on the surface of the coal. A combination of water and ground pressure traps the gas in the fracture of the coal seam.

During the extraction of the gas, water is pumped out of the coal seam which lowers the pressure and allows the gas to flow to the surface.

Coal is a hard, black colored rock-like substance. It is made up of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and varying amount of sulphur. Coal was form as decomposition took place in the absence of oxygen and much of the hydrogen content of the matter was eroded away, leaving a material rich in carbon. The material was compressed over the years by sand and dirt, leaving the form of a carbon known as coal. The different types of coals are Anthracite, bituminous, lignite, peat, coke, and charcoal. Coal is mined out of the ground and used to produce energy. However, they are many deaths, injuries, and sickness involved in mining coal.