Energy Resource: Coal and Solar Energy Essay

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

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

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

For many years, energy has been a need for people everywhere. What has become of the world today is due to the revolution in energy use. There are two types of energy non-renewables and sources-renewables. An example of a non-renewable is coal and it is a great type of fossil fuel the reason being is because it is a reliable source of electricity. Examples of renewables are wind,water and solar power. Renewables can be recovered and reused while on another hand a non-renewables can not be used again. Coal has been used for thousands of years archaeologists discovered that coal was used even in the second and third centuries by the Romans. Solar power is a renewable source since it’s powered by the sun. It can be changed into other forms for example both heat and electricity can come directly from the sun. The sun’s power has been used for a lifetime to heat up our homes, water (to drink and bathe), and our food as well. Both energy sources-coal and solar-are quite reliable resources, and are used very much. As worldwide energy sources, coal and solar power share similarities and differences when it comes to having a huge impact on the environment the world's economic status within how much money we profit from them and human health such as increased lung cancer rates.

Coal is the most abundant and important source of primary energy in the world. There are reserves spread throughout some one hundred countries to meet global needs up to the next two hundred and fifty years. It is the most important fossil fuel for electricity generation and industrial purposes. But, it has pollution issues to the environment like Air pollution, land degradation, noise pollution, etc. But the pollution I am going to be talking about is water pollution from the coal mines in the Alabama rivers.

Coal has a clear advantage, in terms of supply. There is about 260 billion tons of recoverable coal in the United States. If we continue to use coal at the same rate we use it today, which would be enough to last us up to 235 years. It can be converted to a gas to replace expensive imported fuels or it can be used as a solid fuel. The mining, transportation, electricity

Becuase it is a stable energy source there is no sudden scarcity (you can experience sudden scarcity with Natural Gas). The textbook says, “Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel in the world. Every continent has coal, but almost two-thirds of known deposits occur in three countries- The United States, Russia, and China.” (Allison 161). Another reason is, there is plenty enough coal to last us for a long while. In December of 2014 there was 1.2 trillion short tons of coal in the United States. One last reason it is good for the environment is because it is good for foreign and developing countries. It is good for these countries because they produce lots of coal, especially Australia. Australia was big for its coal becuase it was produced by coal fired power

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.

Natural gas is made into energy when CPS Energy operates 14 gas units to complement its energy generation efforts with coal, nuclear and renewable energy. The turbines suck in air, mix it with the fuel and ignite a fireball. The hot gases from the fireball impact the blades of the turbine to cause motion, creating mechanical energy. The generator converts the mechanical energy into electricity before it is transmitted for customer use. (CPS Energy, 2013)

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.

Coal, a mineral I have discussed previously, is necessary to our everyday lives. Coal is an incredible source of energy; it heats our houses and buildings, and also fuels stoves. You may often wonder where this extremely useful mineral comes from. Coal does not just appear; it needs to be mined through a process which results in our being able to utilize it. Coal mining is fairly inexpensive, is carried out on a large scale and can be mined in either underground or surface mines.

Lignite is the softest coal. Further compression and aging caused the lignite coal to change into bituminous coal. Bituminous is a soft, black, brittle material that is extremely flammable and produces a lot of ash and sulfur when burned. This is the type of coal that is mined in the Appalachian Mountains, Great Plains, and the Colorado Plateau. Heat and pressure then turn bituminous into anthracite. Anthracite is the final stage of coal, and is composed almost entirely of carbon. Lignite and bituminous coal are sedimentary, while anthracite is metamorphic. Anthracite is only found where pressure and heat were very great. It doesn’t produce as much heat as bituminous coal, but it burns longer without as much residue. There are anthracite fields in Pennsylvania and Great Britain (U.S Energy Information Administration).

Coal has played a major role in electricity production ever since the first power plants were built in the world in the 1880's. The earliest power plant used hand feed wood or coal to heat boiler and produce steam. This steam was used in reciprocation steam