Coal Is A Nonrenewable Fossil Fuel

In the United States, 42 percent of the nation’s electricity is generated by burning coal as coal is cheap and plentiful.

Replace the remainder of coal plants with clean energy solutions that consist of wind, solar, and geothermal within the United

Imagine a world where the air is always clean, free of pollution. A place where children with asthma need not to worry of the air quality in the inner cities. A world where the energy produced to heat a home, turn on a light bulb, and charge your cellphone is always abundant and affordable. Doesn’t this world sound like a wonderful place? Turns out this world isn’t just a figment of the imagination. In fact, we are on the verge of a technological breakthrough that can take steps towards making this fantasy a reality. What is this innovation? It is Clean Coal Technology.

We should invest in cleaner alternatives that will not only be better for us but the environment. Although coal is used for electricity, there are other ways to produce electricity like water power, wind generators, and solar energy. Water power, or hydropower is power that is derived from the weight of the water. Hydroelectric power plants use dams or rivers to store water to then release the water through turbines that spin it that produces electricity. Wind generators are like water power but instead of water its wind. Wind turbines converts the wind’s energy into electric energy. Solar energy is similar but the energy comes from the sun. Some people use solar energy for their homes so they save money and will not have to pay an electric bill. Instead of burning coal, there are other alternatives as stated

It produces a great deal of our electricity; however, we don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the implications. As Goodell notes on the first page, “We love our hamburgers, but we’ve never seen the inside of a slaughterhouse.” Isn’t that the truth? When we fuel up our cars, we don’t think (much) about the ramifications of our oil dependence. When we flip a light switch, we do not associate that with the coal-driven mountaintop removals in West Virginia. In this book, “BIG COAL” Jeff describes Goodell thrusts those associations right in your face. He covers the history of the industry, tells the stories of the people in and around the business, and while most of the book is based on U.S.-happenings, he does spend a chapter in China. We would imagine the coal industry was none too pleased with Big Coal because it paints a really ugly picture of the industry. Goodell contrasts the coal industry with the individuals whose lives have been negatively impacted by coal in one way or another. He details corruption and politics that allowed the industry to delay implementation of pollution control equipment. And on a big picture level, he argues that continued usage of coal poses a serious threat to the earth’s

As we go throughout life, we use various kinds of energy sources for our needs. Whether it be from solar energy to wind energy, there is a multitude of sources that allow us to do the things we do each and every day. Throughout the world, however, coal and nuclear power have risen to the

Nowadays, coal is still one of the greatest used energy to generate power in so many countries. Using coal in electricity generation is 93% in South African, 87% in Poland, 79% in China, 78% in Australia, 45% in USA, 41% in Germany, 58% in Israel etc. (Coal & Electricity) From the data above, even the developed countries use coal to generate power as the main source. In many developed countries, energy generation is still based on coal as a long-term source. In recent years, although there is an increasing number of equipment using gas and wind to generate the power, it is still lower than the proportion of coal-fired power generation. The reason why most countries choose coal as a main source to generate electricity, is that there are many advantages in using coal to generate electricity. First of all, coal is the

Alaska is widely known for its vast untouched wilderness, abundant wildlife, and its coal. Sam Weis explains in “The Local and Worldwide Impacts of Mining Alaska’s Coal,” that Alaska is home to an estimated 5.5 trillion tons of coal, which is approximately one-eighth of all the coal on Earth (25). The energy that comes from burning coal is in great need not only in the United States, but also all over the world. According to Gail West, in his article titled Alaska’s Coal Clean Burning and Abundant,” “Japan, South Korea, and Chile are three primary markets for Alaska’s coal exports (113). This dire need for coal has led many people wanting to turn towards Alaska as a primary source of coal. There is just one problem; the coal and the

Jason Hayes, communications director for the American Coal Council says “the industry over the past few decades had invested over $100 billion in cleaning up emissions and it’s already been effective. All of the important noxious pollutants have decreased markedly over the last 30 to 40 years. We’ve been doing all of this on top of dealing with everything else.” Coal may not be green, but it is a source of energy American needs. It is cheap and efficient. Without coal, America wouldn’t be anywhere near where it is today. The coal mined here isn’t just used for energy. America’s

Coal power is the cheapest fuel to power the ever growing population with Australian mining industry still putting in billions of dollars into a vast amount of coal projects never the less coal power is a fossil fuel, a fuel which takes hundreds of year to form so the future of coal is undetermined. Coal is a reliable power source but one of the many concern with coal is the mining process used to remove it from the ground. Ecological effects are developing worries for the industry, with the carbon emissions possibly contributing to global warming.

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.

States has a large amount of coal remaining to be mined and burned, almost three-fourths of the public land in America has been declared off-limits for mining. Mountaintop mining is a relatively new form of surface mining that has steadily gained popularity. The debate as to whether or not this process is an economic necessity or environmental disaster for Kentuckians is the question. Undoubtedly, it is an environmental disaster and it should be removed in every state that they are using it not to mention the health hazards. One report found states, “Although dozens of new coal-burning power plants are planned or under construction, the latest coal boom is meeting resistance from critics who want to shift the U.S. economy toward cleaner fuels. Even if electricity from coal is cheaper than other sources, they argue, the savings are far outweighed by its environmental and health impacts” (Isabella, 2013).

Coal and natural gas are the United States’ main fossil fuels used as energy sources. These fossil fuels both contain mixtures of hydrocarbons, which is a chemical compound of carbon and hydrogen (Olah, 2005). Currently, fossil fuels provide eighty-five percent of commercial energy, such as businesses, worldwide and this eighty-five percent does not even account for residential use. Imagine if the residential energy use was accounted for in that eighty-five percent (Davison, 2007). According to Goodell (2006), “Between 1950 and 2000, the world population increased by 140 percent and fossil fuel consumption increased by 400 percent. By 2030, the world’s demand for energy is expected to more than double,” with most of the electricity

Every day in the United States people turn on a light, use the oven, and watch television. The energy needed to do these trivial everyday tasks is often taken for granted, yet it is greatly required at all times. A small percentage of this energy is provided by the burning of coal to produce power. The removal of coal for energy has been a long thought out process since the early 1960’s (Holzman). The removal of coal up until around the 1990’s was all done underground, removing the coal by using pick axes, mules, and rail cars. During the early and late 1990’s, the extraction of coal was modernized to mountain top removal (Holzman). Mountain top removal is the process of blasting the top of a mountain away to retrieve coal from inside the