What Are The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Fossil Fuels

The pro of coal energy is that we have plenty of coal in the U.S. and worldwide. Also, when we have plenty of coal, it helps the U.S.A to be less dependent on foreign oil. The coal power plants are cheaper to produce and it is reliable to produce electricity.

Coal is not the most abundant fossil fuel, and should not be used in the future. There are three main reasons for this, the first being that the amount of coal in the world is very close to gone. Every year, humans consume 11 billion tons of coal a year, scientists predict that the coal supply will be gone in the next 50 years (Ecotricity, 2017). Another being that coal not being a major source of energy, it is a dirty and hazardous organic matter. Coal can cause black lung disease for the miners who are harvesting the coal (Chiras, 2016). The last major reason is that burning coal is a major source of pollution for the atmosphere. The impact that coal has on the environment is detrimental. When coal is being mined it is mined by using a technique

The production of coal energy produces the most amount of carbon dioxide than any other method. It is a non-renewable energy source, and coal mines destroy most of the surrounding areas around it. With the recession going on, no one is buying into coal power plants at the moment which is an economy issue. (Center for Energy)

Coal is the most carbon dioxide but also additionally contains different components that also contributes to pollution in the air that is rising at an alarming rate, Walke (2016)

They are formed from the remains of fossil plant and animal life. We use fossil fuels to power our cars and airplanes, medicine, makeup, and to run many different types of appliances. Many products that are used everyday wouldn’t be available without the oil and gas extracted and processed from fossil fuels. Some advantages are being able to generate great amounts of electricity in one location, cost efficient and reliable, coal is becoming more and more available as geologists are finding coal mines, easily stored and transported from one place to another and new technology had been made to safely extract fossil fuels. Some disadvantages are it gives off carbon dioxide causing the greenhouse effect, which contributes to the global warming, mining of coal results in the destruction of wide areas, extracting coal puts workers in danger of health problems, moving fossil fuels from one location to another can involve leaks in oil tankers or ships that include toxic substances that puts marine life in hazards and lastly, burning coal releases acid rain.

Emissions from coal fired power plants contribute to global warming, ozone smog, acid rain, regional haze, and perhaps most consequential of all from a public health standpoint, fine particle pollution.

A fossil-fueled power plant relies on the ancient technology of fire to produce heat. According to Harold L. Flescher “Today, almost 50% of electricity in the United States comes from coal, almost 20% from natural gas, almost 20% from nuclear and 7% from hydroelectric. That adds up to over 95% of the United States electrical energy generation capability. Everything else, including solar and wind, today contributes less than 5% of U.S. electrical needs” (2). It is believed that our country and many others will continue to use coal and other fossil fueled plants as a main source for electricity for another couple of generations until we eventually graduate from the idea of using fossil fueled power plants (Flescher 2). The structure developed

Fossil fuels have many advantages, and are a good way to break the dependency on other countries for their natural resource supplies,

Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel available to humans, there is no argument. There is an estimated 3.9 trillion short tons of coal in the USA alone, and that would be only 21% of the entire world's coal (EIA, 2017). That is a massive amount of coal, but no matter how much coal there is, the human race is using it at a rate much faster than the speed at which it can be produced in nature, therefore the resource is bound to be depleted unless current practices are changed. With the current rate at which coal is used in the world, it will only be around for another 50-56 years (Chiras, 2016). Since it will only be around for roughly 50 years, if usage rates continue as they are, it can not be a major energy source for the next 100 years. Not only will coal just simply not last for the next hundred years when used as is, it is also not an environmentally friendly way to produce energy. Coal is the leading air pollutant in the united states with the typical uncontrolled coal plant emitting 3.5 million tons of CO2, 14,100 tons of SO2 per year, 10,300 tons of NOx per year (UCSUSA, 2015). These major air pollutants can result in acid rain, destruction of the ozone layer, and a wide variety of human health problems. Coal also emits many more heavy metals and solid particulates into the air every year. These substances pollute the Earth’s atmosphere and result in many problems. Coal produces a great amount of energy, but it also produces a great amount of pollutants that get released into the atmosphere and the environment, therefore it can not be a major source of energy for the next 100 years or more problems will occur. Aside of air pollution from using coal, the extraction and production of coal has adverse effects on the environment too. Surface mining produces several environmental hazards and releases a large quantity of pollutants through erosion and runoff. When land is stripped away to reveal a coal seam, not only does it destroy habitats and quality land, it increases erosion and causes a substantial amount of the materials and sediment to be carried into nearby streams. In Kentucky for example, where contour strip mines were located, the amount of erosion grew about 372 times the original, .18 tons per

When fossil fuels such as coal and oil are burned to produce power for cities, factories, cars and to heat homes, large amounts of polluting gases are produced.

produce coal emit up to 14, 000 tons of sulfur dioxide a year while those plants with emission

Waste Generation: coal-fired power use causes several pollutant emissions in the atmosphere causing global climate change (Weaver, 2008). Also, it has large waste generation, which results in land and water resource depletion because it contaminates the very air and water we use every day. This causes public health and safety as well as animal health and safety (Worldcoal.org, 2016)

Before starting looking to each side of the arguments that may arise along that debate, it might be a good idea to have a bit of historical background about fossil coal and its alternatives

The world currently functions through the use of fossil fuels. However, fossil fuels possess two significant disadvantages. Fossil fuels harm the global environment because they enhance the greenhouse effect by releasing carbon dioxide, and they release other harmful

“Coal energy is a nonrenewable energy, which means that this is a type of energy that we cannot re-create in sunglitz and Moore study” (as cited in Disadvantages of Using Coal to Produce Electricity). Coal energy is used for the formation of power to control mechanical or producing plants and even to control our electronics at home. “Many industrial plants or manufacturing plants use coal energy to generate electricity because coal energy is an affordable source of energy in sunglitz and Moore study” (as cited in Disadvantages of Using Coal to Produce Electricity). Advantages of using coal as energy are; it is an affordable source of energy, it burns easily then other energy sources. “Some disadvantages of coal are that coal energy produces large amount of carbon dioxide, which leads to