The Power of Coal

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the use of coal as a fuel. The paper reviews the properties of coal and the different mining methods. The paper also discusses the impact the use of coal has on the environment.

From the Paper:

"One way to lower down the carbon dioxide production of an energy plant is by making it more efficient, that is generating more energy with less fuel. A process called gasification converts coal to gas. This process is about 40 percent efficient as opposed to a steam driven coal plant with an efficiency of about 36 percent. However for the short run and maybe the long run as well, the most important new source of energy from the Rocky Mountain West will be coal. Earlier in the century small amounts of western coal were used to power steam locomotives. With the introduction of diesels after World War II, however, western coal production dropped off to very minimal levels. Then, in the early 1970s transportation of low-sulfur western coal to new coal-burning power plants in parts of the Midwest became economic. Because of environmental regulations, it had become cheaper to import western coal than to install the expensive scrubbers needed to clean high-sulfur eastern and mid-western coal. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• "A Brief History of Coal Use." U.S. Department of Energy. 27 Feb. 2006 <http://www.fossil.energy.gov/education/energylessons/coal/coal_history.html>.
• Thompson III, Alexander M. Technology, Labor and Industrial Structure of the U.S. Coal Industry. New York: Garland Publishing, 1979.
• Benson, John. British Coal-Miners in the Nineteenth Century: A Social History. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1980.
• Thomson, Bruce. "The Oil Crash and You." 27 Feb. 2006 <http://www.greatchange.org/ov-thomson,convince_sheet.html>.
• Kosanovic, Lisa. "Clean Coal? New Technologies Reduce Emissions, but Sharp Criticisms Persist." E January-February 2002: 24.

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