The Coal Industry Can Be Made More Sustainable

First, the source that is being used (the coal) is one of the many resources that are non renewable. When you constantly replace your source of energy it can get expensive. Fortunately, Canada does not generate off of it which is much work and time saved for people. Second, the gasses that comes out of burning the coal has advantages and disadvantages. It lets out sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide. In other words, it is not the best fumes to be out in the air and without the generator the awful gases won't be let out into the atmosphere as much as it used too.

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

Canada 's unique geographical location and its harsh weather conditions, requires extra use of energy to keep the houses warm."[Moreover we have to transport goods, to far of places including territories, therefore as a result we use extensive amount of fuel for the transportation purposes]" (Energy, Statistic Canada). "[Per capita consumption of electric power in Canada was 16,473.16 kWh in 2011. In 2010 Canada’s average energy consumption was, 41% from petroleum, 31% from natural gas and 1% consumption from coal]" (Energy, Statistic Canada). We produce about 65 million metric tons of coal each year but, consume 50 percent of it and the remaining is exported to many countries of Asia, including Japan and South Korea (ILC 2007, CGW4UA, U2, L10, P 24). As per Statistic Canada our total consumption of energy was divided as: "34% of the energy was consumed by transportation. Residential and Agricultural sector consumed 20%. Manufacturing 19%, whereas mining, oil and gas extractions consumed 10% of the energy. Moreover 74% of the total energy consumed was in the provinces of Ontario, Alberta and Quebec. Canada produces 3 million barrels of oil, and consumes 2.2 million of it" (Energy, Statistic Canada). The rest is exported to the United States for sale. Furthermore Canada has cross border trade of electricity with the US and it exports "30 billion kWh of electricity" (ILC 2007, CGW4UA, U2, L10, P 25).

They are used the most because Hydro-Electric energy comes from the Great Lakes, and the large amount of waterfalls in Canada like Niagara Falls. Coal is used because of the great supply of coal mines in Canada. (Center for Energy)

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 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 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.

For that reason, I believe coal is dead for good. The biggest clue we have is that the states that rely on coal heavily are now in debt. For many states, they look at the national debt, yet we are in a crisis of our own. This is evident by our recent 300+ million dollar budget cut. Even with plans such as the rainy day funds

Coal is mainly used for fuel and electricity. Fossil fuel produces about 40 percent of Earth’s electricity. Millions of years ago, the energy from plants got absorbed from the sun and now we use that energy to charge the Earth.

There are numerous potential sources of energy, and they are most broadly categorized into two groups; renewable and nonrenewable. Renewable, of course, implies that the source can be renewed, while nonrenewable sources exist in limited numbers. Coal fits under the nonrenewable umbrella, and that, in itself, already puts it

Before coal was used to generate fuel, it was considered to be a widespread and abundant resource. Today the supply of coal has decreased significantly and it is acknowledged that there is not enough coal to last forever if the current consumption rate continues. Each year the world uses coal with little consideration of how much if left and how much longer it will last. Consumption rates of global hard coal throughout the world were 2,721 megatons (mt.) in 1979, 3,579 mt. in 1989, and 3,465 mt. in 1999. (Coal Facts)

Coal is an inflammable, loose organic rock, comprised of hydrogen, carbon and oxygen. It is formed when vegetation which has consolidated between rock layers transforms into coal seams after undergoing heat and pressure for millions of years. There is more supply of coal than oil or gas, a supply that could last the entire world for about 109 years into the future. Coal provides electricity as well as fuels the production of steel, cement and other industrial activities. Each year, over 6,185 million tons (Mt) of hard coal and 1,042 Mt of brown or lignite coal is produced worldwide. The top five coal producing countries are China, United States (US), Australia, India and South Africa. Eighty-five percent of the coal produced is used in the country of production and only fifteen percent is exported (World Coal Association, 2015).

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.

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