Environmental And Health Hazards Of Burning Coal

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.

Industries and Electrical generation are estimated to produce “a little over 50%” of greenhouse emissions, making it the biggest problem (Petterson

As the global population increases exponentially, having passed six billion in 1999, the world population is expected to be 8.9 billion by the year 2050. The worlds energy consumption will increase by an estimated 54 percent by 2025. Energy demand in the industrialized world is projected to grow 1.2 percent per year. Energy is a critical component of sustained economic growth and improved standards of living. One of the major requirements for sustaining human progress is an adequate source of energy. As the world’s technological enhancements and standards of living improve, so too does their appetite for electricity.

Coal ash is a byproduct of burning coal in power plants and is composed mainly of aluminum and silicon oxides. This ash is commonly stored away in dump sites, only to leach out solutions of concentrated toxic heavy metals. Such issues are detrimental to the health of water systems, posing both a human and environmental health risk. However, there are solutions to this problem. Coal ash possesses unique chemical properties that allow for the remediation of other environmental concerns, such as the treatment of soil polluted with heavy metals, the removal of nutrients from wastewater, and the remediation of acid mine drainage in streams.

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

Ultimately, Dr. Shea found very little actual health risks from the coal ash spill. According to Dan Way, Dr. Shea reported that short-term toxic harm resulted from the spill, and that there were only isolated cases of coal ash contaminating groundwater (2014). However, there was agreement that long-term monitoring was necessary at the Dan River to assess longer term damages.

Electricity generation from fossil fuels is responsible for a large share of Canadian carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and fine particulate matter emissions.

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.

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.

Coal mining has several negative effects on the health of the body that often times go unrecognized or just simply ignored. Many people have died from mining for various reasons such as the collapse of the mines as well as respiratory diseases caused by mining. Governments across the globe continue to implement regulations for the miners and populations surrounding the mines, but they have failed to eliminate health risks related to mining, which is nearly impossible. Mining permits used to be easy to obtain but under the Obama administration, the United States Environmental Protection Agency began conducting more reviews and now they have issued “comprehensive guidance” which was designed to strengthen requirements regarding mountain top removal (MTR) and other surface mining products (Holzman 2011). The more an organism is exposed to coal-mining, the more health problems they will face.

Following the Dan River coal ash spill, revelations that coal ash pollution has contaminated rivers, lakes, streams and drinking water resulted in an unprecedented public demand for legislative action. Duke Energy produces an estimated 1.2 million tons of coal ash a year in North Carolina. Currently, all coal ash sites have groundwater contamination and nearly all are releasing contaminants into rivers, lakes or reservoirs. The Coal Ash Management Act of 2014 was spurred by the Dan River disaster. In February 2014, approximately 39,000 tons of coal ash and 24 million gallons of wastewater laden with toxic heavy metals were discharged into the Dan River from a broken stormwater pipe beneath an unlined Duke Energy coal ash pit. Coal ash has

With the introduction of mechanical coal cutters, production tripled. Acting like a chain saw, coal cutters sheared, undercut and overcut the seam of coal. Holes were then drilled into the coal and filled with explosives. Once blown down, miners loaded the coal into coal cars. There were several inherent risks with mechanisation. Sparks created explosions, machinery caused gruesome accidents, and the coal dust (or “devil’s dust” as the miners called it) caused black lung

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

As we move ahead in time, the population growth rate is increasing at an exponential rate. As a result of this the energy demand is increasing as well. To meet this demand, more and more energy is being generated. Conventional energy sources like natural gas and coal has been the main sources of energy production. At the rate we are going, these sources will be depleted very soon. These sources contribute to a major portion of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the power industry. It is about time that everyone start looking towards the sustainable practices or sources that contribute to GHG emission reductions and prevent natural resource depletions. Everyone is now interested in the idea of "Going Green" and this is the right way to go. Residential as well as industrial energy consumers are becoming more and more attracted towards green energy. Energy produced from sources like solar and wind have minimum environmental footprint and these sources do not deplete like conventional sources. With the enactment of facilities like net metering and various tax incentives, people are getting more encouraged towards investing in these sources.

The production of electricity through the combustion of coal is one of the oldest and cheapest methods to produce electricity. Coal supplies are plentiful and will be available to produce electricity for hundreds of years. While conventional supplies of oil and natural gas are expected to run out in the near future. This has cause a growth in nuclear power. Through out this report one will also learn the disadvantages and advantages to coal burning power plant and how they operate.