Advantages Of Coal
Uses and Advantages of Coal
With over a billion tons produced in the United States alone each year, it is obvious that there are many advantages of coal usage. This fossil fuel has seen much diversity in the ways it has been utilized throughout history, and many new methods are being discovered continually.
Coal is a sedimentary rock that takes millions of years to form. Because of this lengthy development period, it is not considered to be a renewable source of energy. It may seem difficult to believe that this hard rock was, at one time in history, plant life. Yet that is exactly how coal is formed; plants that were once growing died and became covered with swampy water and soil. As the soil built up, the plant life became entrapped. Over time, the surface layers grew, with the pressure compressing the dead plant life into a solid material that eventually became the substance known as coal. Plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it as energy. When the plants die away, the energy escapes into the atmosphere through the decomposition of the plant matter. This was not the case millions of years ago. That same energy, or carbon, was trapped along with the plants through the transformation process, and thereby became the basic composition of coal; carbon and hydrocarbons.
While coal may not be a renewable fuel, it is the most plentiful fuel source in existence in the United States, and has been mined since the mid 1700’s. In the early years, it was used for heating homes and for providing fuel for gas lamps that were so abundant in houses and streets. Over time, it was proven to be extremely efficient when used to produce electricity, steel and in the production of cement products as well as liquid fuels. One of its greatest uses currently is in fueling thermal plants which meets the high energy needs that the existing population demands.
One of the advantages of coal is its affordability. It is a lower priced element mainly because of its wide availability; yet another advantage of the black diamond. Coal is found almost everywhere in the world in large supply. Both of these benefits far surpass the other fuels currently in use; oil is a highly competitive source and one that commands high prices in the open market. Since oil is not available in such an abundant supply as coal, many countries are reliant upon its import and therefore must pay the prescribed price.
There has been great speculation and controversy over the years as to the safety of using coal as a fuel for either homes or for manufacturing purposes. Because the coal has high carbon content, this element is released into the atmosphere when the coal is burned; causing the detrimental results of greenhouse gasses. Health concerns are also at the height of the controversy; many miners have suffered greatly from the effects of carbon emissions while harvesting the coal. Much greater damage is suspected to have been done when the fuel is burned within home. For these reasons, the use of coal as a home heating fuel in the United States has diminished greatly in the past 50 years.
Despite these concerns, coal has many beneficial uses in the commercial market and is also used as a source of home heating in other countries. The advantages of coal in these arenas are indisputable and largely irreplaceable. Even with its nonrenewable nature, there are vast supplies of coal reserves throughout the world, much of which has yet to be tapped. From its humble beginnings to its current importance, coal remains a huge advantage to the human civilization.