Coal

Depending on the grade, coal is mostly carbon and is therefore a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. For the unit energy obtained, it is the most polluting fossil fuel. It is also rich in other major pollutants, such as sulfur, mercury, radioactive elements etc.

It is derived from vegetable matter which has become partially or totally petrified by pressure, heat and chemical changes. Coal is found in many countries throughout the world, although it is not always exploited.

Composition

This section is an edited excerpt from Wikipedia^[1]

The table is a classification of different coal types, according to German sources. The nomenclature may vary from country to country.

Use of coal

About 4.6 billion tonnes of coal are used annually for the generation of electricity, especially in the USA, China and India. Another 1.6 million tonnes are used for other industrial purposes, such as in the metallurgical industries, coking and coal gas generation, plus domestic use. It is widespreadly used in China for cooking.

Environment

For further details on the effects on the environment, see also Energy safety.

The following information is an edited excerpt from Wikipedia

There are a number of adverse environmental effects of coal mining and burning.

These effects include:

• release of carbon dioxide and methane, both of which are greenhouse gases, which are causing climate change, according to the IPCC. Coal is the largest contributor to the human-made increase of CO2 in the air.
• waste products including heavy metals and radionuclides of uranium, thorium, radon etc.
• vast quantities of sterile ash and fly ash to dispose of
• acid rain
• interference with groundwater and water table levels
• impact of water use on flows of rivers and consequential impact on other land-uses
• dust nuisance
• subsidence above tunnels, sometimes damaging infrastructure
• rendering land unfit for other uses.
• coal-fired power plants without effective fly ash capture are one of the largest sources of human-caused background radiation exposure.
• vast quantities of aerosols affecting the earth's albedo

Human H&S

The following is quoted directly from the EEWiki article on Energy safety.

It is impossible to obtain reliable data on deaths related to mining the coal, transporting it, burning it and being affected by the pollution that is produced. It is estimated that between 5 000 and 10 000 are killed in mine accidents each year, on average. On top of that, at least double this figure die from pneumoconiosis. Assuming that half the coal mined is used to generating electricity, this means that 20 000 people, as a minimum, die prematurely each year before the coal is even burned to produce electricity.

It is possibly ironic that the country which suffered the worst nuclear disaster is also one of the countries with the worst statistics for mining accidents, in terms of the quantity of coal mined. Ukraine has consistently suffered from various types of mining accident over the years.

The following quotation from the Earth Policy Institute (© 2004, with tacit permission) illustrates the effects of pollution from coal burning plant in the USA.

In the United States, 23,600 deaths each year can be attributed to air pollution from power plants. Those dying prematurely due to exposure to particulate matter lose, on average, 14 years of life. Burning coal also is responsible for some 554,000 asthma attacks, 16,200 cases of chronic bronchitis, and 38,200 non-fatal heart attacks each year. Atmospheric power plant pollution in the United States racks up an estimated annual health care bill of over $160 billion.

Other figures quote an annual death toll of 400 000 in China. It is difficult to find corresponding figures for India and other countries. It nevertheless seems probable, even using the most conservative data, that the number of persons dying prematurely each year from coal-burning electricity generation must be in the hundreds of thousands (and not necessarily in the countries which produce the pollution!