PLEASEEEEE HELP ME ANSWER THIS
I REALLLY NEED IT
=D
2006-11-12 12:50:37 · 6 answers · asked by Meow 2 in Environment
You've already got some pretty good answers there.
While coal is abundant and cheap, it has some serious problems:
1. Mining of coal is dangerous - just look at all the coal miners that are killed on the job from cave-ins, methane gas, and coal dust explosions.
2. Coal produces CO2. Don't let the "clean burning technologies" that the coal industry promotes fool you. There is no way to burn coal without lots of CO2, and anybody that denies the effects of CO2 on the atmosphere needs to give their head a shake. Coal fired power plants and automobiles are by far the biggest contributors to greenhouse gases and acid rain.
3. Coal produces particulate material including fly ash, nitrous oxides, and other toxic and/or polluting substances.
4. Coal produces a lot of solid and liquid waste that is difficult to dispose of and highly toxic.
5. Coal is radioactive. A coal fired power plant produces more radiation than an equivalent sized nuclear power plant.
6. Coal is inefficient, and a lot of energy is consumed just transporting coal from a mine to a power plant.
7. A typical 1000 MW coal fired power plant produces 7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, 100,000 tonnes of sulphur dioxide, 75,000 tonnes of nitrous oxide, 5,000 tonnes of fly ash, and 150,000 to 200,000 tonnes of solid waste every year.
2006-11-12 13:11:45 · answer #1 · answered by minefinder 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You need to compare coal to other energy technologies, perhaps then you can give an answer. If you look to how coal was used during the Industrial Revolution, you would find many negatives associated with the gasses and soot emitted from open burning of coal. New technology is changing how all fuels are used, including coal, to make it cleaner and safer.
If you were to compare coal to ethanol for example, you could say that the coal gives off too much Carbon Dioxide, but ethanol requires more farm land than we have available! Coal is not renewable, but ethanol is. Compared to Nuclear power, which produces dangerous wastes that last for thousands of years, Coal is safer. Coal is available here in the United States, it doesn't share the political problems of Oil. We do need to develop our renewable energy sources. In the meantime, coal technology is being developed to be cleaner than ever. Here are a few sites that can give you more on the plus sides of coal, and a link to the Sierra Club and some of the negatives of coal. Good Luck!
2006-11-12 17:22:12 · answer #2 · answered by Brian L 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Coal is not a renewable resource. It was formed from fossils through millions of years (hence the name fossil fuel). Once we use what is in the earth, it's gone. In addition to that, it is difficult and dangerous to extract coal from the ground. When coal is burned for fuel, it pollutes the air a lot. There are relatively clean kinds of coal, but it is only available in certain areas of the world. Coal is fairly abundant, though. The supplies aren't expected to run out for at least 100 years. The main reason people don't like coal is the pollution its use causes.
2006-11-12 13:02:21 · answer #3 · answered by stinky 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It can be a bad energy source because it can cause the enviorment you live in to have polution. The reason why acid rain is made is from coal going into the atmosphere & as the rain fall's the coal cause's the rain to make acid rain. & it destory's our enviorment & nature all round us. Coal is ussually used for steam in the train's we run on to get somewhere & that steam goe's into our enviorment. So what "we" know about this is that this is a disadvantage of the coal being an energy source. One part of your question is answered.
2006-11-15 05:40:07 · answer #4 · answered by Shawnda H 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Coal is renewable. It is crated though focilizaion on bio-organic material. Example: The furn plant if buried under the proper conditions and for a long time (X number of years) will turn into coal.
2016-03-28 03:40:25 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Black Lung Disease - it kills and is a very painful death.
Most miners are not protected!
Humans die getting the coal.....and stories rarely come out ..unless it's a large mine shaft and there are more than 2 guys.
It's a dirty thing to burn.....and oil is also...pollution!
2006-11-12 13:00:00 · answer #6 · answered by May I help You? 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋