Energy from Coal: The Nation’s Dirty Secret
Abstract
While technology has led the world into such an advanced setting with intelligent machinery and automated devices, coal has remained a loyal contributor of the energy needed by these various types of equipment to function properly. Almost half of the electricity in the United States is produced in coal plants where coal is burnt to produce this energy [1]. Both beneficial and detrimental factors come with this alternative source of energy, known by the world for centuries.
Background Information
Even with the quantity of fossil fuels dwindling due to human consumption, coal has remained one of the cheapest, reliable sources of electricity, natural gas, diesel fuel, and steel production. It is one of the main sources of energy for the United States particularly because one-quarter of the world’s coal reserves are found there [2]. Typically, coal mines are found throughout many different regions of the United States, depending on what type of coal is being mined. The types of coal used in the industry are anthracite, bituminous, sub-bituminous, and lignite [3]. Anthracite is the hardest of the four because it contains the most carbon and the least ash and moisture. It is used as a heating fuel for homes since it burns slowly over a lengthy period of time. Bituminous is medium-hard in comparison to the others and is the most common type of coal found in the United States. It generates electricity and produces coke, used to make
steel. Sub-bituminous is medium-soft, meaning that it contains a lot of moisture. This type of coal is used mainly in producing steam for electricity generation for the industry. Lastly, there is lignite, the softest of the four. It contains the m...
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