Coal Is A Fossil Fuel

When asked to think of coal mining, what comes to mind? A mountain with a hole cut into the side of it with a set of railroad tracks disappearing into it? Maybe an old mine car or two full of some rocks or coal, with a pickaxe and shovel leaning against it. A few guys with hard hats covered in a black powder coming walking out of the mine pushing a car or two full of coal. The technology has advanced but the process is basically still the same as well as the outcome. Coal is retrieved from underground and taken to factories to be burnt to create electricity or to fuel the steel mills.

The process to mine the coal is quite complex. First, surveyors are called on site to document the layout of the land so that in can be restored to

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

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.

As far back as the Roman Empire, and indeed probably long before then, coal has been used by humans as a source of heat, providing many advantages over wood, charcoal and other fuels. However, it wasn 't until the introduction of the steam engine that coal became a major part of shaping the world. Fueling the industrial revolution, the high energy concentration of coal made it the standard source of everything from trains to power plants. Coal companies claim that coal, though not perfect, is the best source of energy at this moment, and the negative effects are being mitigated even as we speak. Consumers have a high demand of energy, that cannot be sated by other sources. To this very day, coal continues to drive forward the world, but

There are two types of mining – surface mining and underground mining. If coal is found near the surface then surface mining is used. Surface mining involves removing the top layer of soil and rock over a

According to Cambridge dictionary (2015) coal is a “hard, black substance that is dug from the earth and it can be burned to produce heat or power”. Before the 18th century coal was produced in limited amounts. However, after the industrial revolution the demand for coal has become more. Coal was used in various industries because it was cheaper than the other fuels (Wilde, 2015). Although coal developed the economy, the mines harmed the environment and it was unsafe to work in them. Coal has.

But there are also many detrimental factors as well, since the production of coal results in air pollution, sulfur dioxide emission, carbon dioxide emission, acid rain, and hazardous waste [4]. These environmental problems are due to both the mining of coal and coal production plants. Many issues arise with the mining of coal. Firstly, the safety of miners is put at risk as they descend hundreds of feet below the surface of the Earth. After many years in this field of work, many miners develop black lung because of inhaling the coal extensively. Secondly, the extraction of coal is very costly due to the machinery needed along with the transportation of the coal after it has been mined to the various factories that are able to extract the sulfur impurities in coal and burn the coal for energy [5]. New methods have been developed to help with some of the issues relating to coal production. To rid the surrounding environment of toxic pollution, emission-scrubbing

Resources are distributed unevenly throughout world. First, coal is only found in places that used to be located in a warm climate. This took place when Pangea was present. Pangea occurred when all of the continents were combined, to form one super continent. The places that were closest to the warmth of the equator, and were humid, had swamps, and large ecosystems with many trees. Over time, as the continents began to drift apart from each other, to what we now know as our seven continents, these swamps, became covered in dirt, and acquired sediments, that over time compacted these trees, bushes, animals, and other natural substances. With the pressure from the materials above, and the heat from the sun, as well as the Earth's core,

- To mine coal we use big machines to remove the coal from the ground. There are two ways to mine coal: Surface mining and/ or underground mining.

Coal generates about 39% of the electricity produced in the United States. Coal is fossil fuel created from the remains of plants that lived millions years ago. To generate electricity from coal its burnt and the steam turns a turbine and its movement generates electricity. coal is a non-renewable energy source and releases Carbon dioxide and other harmful pollutants into the air when burnt. Therefore coal can be seen as an energy source not sustainable enough for the state of connecticut.

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.

After the coal has been removed form the earth, it is still not ready for use; it must first be refined. Coal must first be separated form foreign materials, for example other minerals, to be considered useful to us. One way of doing this is called coal washing. The coal is first crushed into smaller pieces, and then a liquid is used to separate the coal based on density. Coal that is higher in density harbors more ash, so is left behind, whereas low-density coal has contains little ash and is more desirable. Another process to separate coal from foreign materials is call dry-shaling, which works without the use of liquid. After being separated, coal can be processed into coke, and eventually steel. When coal is transported, it can be by means of truck, train, or ship, and can go nearly anywhere. Truck and train transportation are the cheapest forms, particularly train if you are shipping a great amount, and ships are used for overseas transport.

Coal runs our world. Coal powers our factories and gives us are electricity it is the reason that you are able to turn on your light in the morning and the reason that you can charge your phone at night. “In 2014, the United States generated about 4,093 billion kilowatthours of electricity.1 About 67% of the electricity generated was from fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and petroleum)” ("U.S. Energy Information Administration - EIA - Independent Statistics and Analysis." ). This means that because coal is a fossolfule that coal is the leading energy resources for the U.S. China is the world 's leading country when it comes to coal. “Accounting for 46% of global coal production and 49% of global coal consumption—almost as much as the rest of the world combined” ("U.S. Energy Information Administration - EIA - Independent Statistics and Analysis." ). This statistic is inevitable for one reason.