Generating electricity from coal has many advantages, a main one being that it is inexpensive. Unlike natural gases, it is easily available and will be for many years to come. As it is easily available, it is also unproblematic to distribute all over the world. Coal is mined from beneath the Earth’s surface and is a number of compounds that have been compressed for millenia. This means that there are more disadvantages than advantages.
Advantages include the large amount of energy and different types of energy which can be produced by it, a coal power station can be built almost anywhere and there are large reserves located all over the world. It is estimated that there is approximately 300 years of coal energy currently left in the world.
The disadvantages completely outweigh the positives however. Despite the fact coal is much better than natural gases, it is still a natural resource and the more we use, the less we have. Coal is not recyclable and using it to create energy such as electricity has a damaging effect on the earth.
To use the energy from coal, it must be burnt, which then causes the release of carbon dioxide which is a huge contributing factor to global warming. Mercury is left behind from a coal plant, which when in water, can make fish and other seafood unsafe to eat. Sulphur dioxide is another harmful product of coal production.
10,000 tonnes of sulphur will occur from just one coal plant, this causes damage to trees and plants through acid rain. It also damages old buildings and can cause illness for the people working there as can the carbon monoxide that is released alongside.
There are plenty of disadvantages but on the whole, plenty will claim coal energy is far better than others such as natural gases and nuclear.
Advantages include the large amount of energy and different types of energy which can be produced by it, a coal power station can be built almost anywhere and there are large reserves located all over the world. It is estimated that there is approximately 300 years of coal energy currently left in the world.
The disadvantages completely outweigh the positives however. Despite the fact coal is much better than natural gases, it is still a natural resource and the more we use, the less we have. Coal is not recyclable and using it to create energy such as electricity has a damaging effect on the earth.
To use the energy from coal, it must be burnt, which then causes the release of carbon dioxide which is a huge contributing factor to global warming. Mercury is left behind from a coal plant, which when in water, can make fish and other seafood unsafe to eat. Sulphur dioxide is another harmful product of coal production.
10,000 tonnes of sulphur will occur from just one coal plant, this causes damage to trees and plants through acid rain. It also damages old buildings and can cause illness for the people working there as can the carbon monoxide that is released alongside.
There are plenty of disadvantages but on the whole, plenty will claim coal energy is far better than others such as natural gases and nuclear.
