Dear Twitpic Community – thank you for all the wonderful photos you have taken over the years. We have now placed Twitpic in an archived state. The health and environmental impact of the coal industry includes issues such as land use, waste management, water and air pollution, caused by the coal mining, processing and the use of its products. There are severe health effects caused by burning coal. In addition, the list of historical coal mining disasters is a long one, although work related coal deaths has declined substantially as safety measures have been enacted and underground mining has given electric coal effect fires market share to surface mining. Underground mining hazards include suffocation, gas poisoning, roof collapse and gas explosions. Strip mining severely alters the landscape, which reduces the value of the natural environment in the surrounding land.
The land surface is dedicated to mining activities until it can be reshaped and reclaimed. Strip mining eliminates existing vegetation, destroys the genetic soil profile, displaces or destroys wildlife and habitat, alters current land uses, and to some extent permanently changes the general topography of the area mined. Adverse impacts on geological features of human interest may occur in a coal strip mine. The removal of vegetative cover and activities associated with the construction of haul roads, stockpiling of topsoil, displacement of overburden and hauling of soil and coal increase the quantity of dust around mining operations. Dust degrades air quality in the immediate area, has an adverse impact on vegetative life, and constitutes health and safety hazards for mine workers and nearby residents.
Surface mining disrupts virtually all aesthetic elements of the landscape. Alteration of land forms often imposes unfamiliar and discontinuous configurations. New linear patterns appear as material is extracted and waste piles are developed. Different colors and textures are exposed as vegetative cover is removed and overburden dumped to the side. Removal of soil and rock overburden covering the coal resource may cause burial and loss of topsoil, exposes parent material, and creates large infertile wastelands. Soil disturbance and associated compaction result in conditions conducive to erosion. Soil removal from the area to be surface-mined alters or destroys many natural soil characteristics, and reduces its biodiversity and productivity for agriculture.
Soil structure may be disturbed by pulverization or aggregate breakdown. In response to negative land effects of coal mining and the abundance of abandoned mines in the US the federal government enacted the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, which requires reclamation plans for future coal mining sites. The contamination of both groundwater and nearby streams may be for long periods of time. Deterioration of stream quality results from acid mine drainage, toxic trace elements, high content of dissolved solids in mine drainage water, and increased sediment loads discharged to streams. When coal surfaces are exposed, pyrite comes in contact with water and air and forms sulfuric acid. In the United States, due to few federal and state regulations concerning ash ponds, most power plants do not use geomembranes, leachate collection systems, or other flow controls often found in municipal solid waste landfills.
Pollutant discharges from ash ponds to surface waters typically include arsenic, lead, mercury, selenium, chromium, and cadmium. Pollutants such as heavy metals leach into groundwater from unlined ponds or landfills, and can pollute aquifers for decades or centuries. The EPA classified 44 sites in the US as potential hazards to communities. In the low-coal-content areas waste forms spoil tip. Surface mining of coal causes direct and indirect damage to wildlife. The impact on wildlife stems primarily from disturbing, removing and redistributing the land surface. Some impacts are short-term and confined to the mine site however others have far-reaching, long-term effects. The most direct effect on wildlife is destruction or displacement of species in areas of excavation and spoil piling.
Pit and spoil areas are not capable of providing food and cover for most species of wildlife. Mobile wildlife species like game animals, birds, and predators leave these areas. More sedentary animals like invertebrates, reptiles, burrowing rodents, and small mammals may be destroyed. Degradation of aquatic habitats is a major impact by surface mining and may be apparent many miles from a mining site. Sediment contamination of surface water is common with surface mining. Sediment yields may increase a thousand times their former level as a result of strip mining. The effects of sediment on aquatic wildlife vary with the species and the amount of contamination.
High sediment levels can kill fish directly, bury spawning beds, reduce light transmission, alter temperature gradients, fill in pools, spread streamflows over wider, shallower areas, and reduce the production of aquatic organisms used as food by other species. These changes destroy the habitat of valued species and may enhance habitat for less-desirable species. The presence of acid-forming materials exposed as a result of surface mining can affect wildlife by eliminating habitat and by causing direct destruction of some species. Lesser concentrations can suppress productivity, growth rate and reproduction of many aquatic species. Acids, dilute concentrations of heavy metals, and high alkalinity can cause severe damage to wildlife in some areas. In northern China, air pollution from the burning of fossil fuels, principally coal, is causing people to die on average 5. 5 years sooner than they otherwise might. Tim Flannery, Atmosphere of Hope, 2015.
Illustration of air pollutants generated by U. SO2 and nitrogen oxide react in the atmosphere to form fine particles and ground-level ozone and are transported long distances, making it difficult for other states to achieve healthy levels of pollution control. The wet cooling towers used in coal-fired power stations, etc. The drift contains Respirable suspended particulate matter. Fires sometimes occur in coal beds underground. When coal beds are exposed, the fire risk is increased. Weathered coal can also increase ground temperatures if it is left on the surface. Almost all fires in solid coal are ignited by surface fires caused by people or lightning.
After release, the Sulfur Dioxide is oxidized to gaseous H2SO2 which scatters solar radiation, hence their increase in the atmosphere exerts a cooling effect on climate that masks some of the warming caused by increased greenhouse gases. Release of SO2 also contributes to the widespread acidification of ecosystems. In New York State winds deposit mercury from the coal-fired power plants of the Midwest, contaminating the waters of the Catskill Mountains. Mercury is concentrated up the food chain, as it is converted into methylmercury, a toxic compound which harms both wildlife and people who consume freshwater fish. Every year, the burning of coal without the use of available pollution control technology causes thousands of preventable deaths in the United States. A 2001 EU-funded study known as ExternE, or Externalities of Energy, over the decade from 1995 to 2005 found that the cost of producing electricity from coal would double over its present value, if external costs were taken into account. High rates of motherboard failures in China and India appear to be due to “sulfurous air pollution produced by coal that’s burned to generate electricity. It corrodes the copper circuitry,” according to Intel researchers.
The combustion of coal is the largest contributor to the human-made increase of CO2 in the atmosphere. Coal mining releases methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Methane is the naturally occurring product of the decay of organic matter as coal deposits are formed with increasing depths of burial, rising temperatures, and rising pressure over geological time. Hansen and Pushker Kharecha published a peer-reviewed scientific study analyzing the effect of a coal phase-out on atmospheric CO2 levels. Their baseline mitigation scenario was a phaseout of global coal emissions by 2050. Coal also contains low levels of uranium, thorium, and other naturally occurring radioactive isotopes which, if released into the environment, may lead to radioactive contamination. Excluding contained waste and unintentional releases from nuclear plants, coal-plants carry more radioactive wastes into the environment than nuclear plants per unit of produced energy.
Plant-emitted radiation carried by coal-derived fly ash delivers 100 times more radiation to the surrounding environment than does the normal operation of a similarly productive nuclear plant. Historically, coal mining has been a very dangerous activity, and the list of historical coal mining disasters is long. Sago Mine disaster of January 2006. However, in lesser developed countries and some developing countries, many miners continue to die annually, either through direct accidents in coal mines or through adverse health consequences from working under poor conditions. China, in particular, has the highest number of coal mining related deaths in the world, with official statistics claiming that 6,027 deaths in 2004. The Farmington coal mine disaster kills 78. Black damp: a mixture of carbon dioxide and nitrogen in a mine can cause suffocation.
The anoxic condition results of depletion of oxygen in enclosed spaces, e. After damp: similar to black damp, after damp consists of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and nitrogen and forms after a mine explosion. Stink damp: so named for the rotten egg smell of the hydrogen sulphide gas, stink damp can explode and is also very toxic. Firedamp explosions can trigger the much more dangerous coal dust explosions, which can engulf an entire pit. Most of these risks can be greatly reduced in modern mines, and multiple fatality incidents are now rare in some parts of the developed world. Modern mining in the US results in approximately 30 deaths per year due to mine accidents. Environmental impacts of coal power: air pollution”. Deaths per TWH by Energy Source Archived 24 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Next Big Future, March 2011.
Air pollution and early deaths in the United States. Part I: Quantifying the impact of major sectors in 2005. Comparative Human Toxicity Impact of Electricity Produced from Shale Gas and Coal”. Potential lives saved by replacing coal with solar photovoltaic electricity production in the U. These Two Industries Kill More People Than They Employ”. Coal Fatalities for 1900 Through 2016″. Mining environmental policy: Comparing Indonesia and the USA. Ashgate studies in environmental policy and practice.
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977: Environmental Impact Statement. The Strip Mining Handbook: A Coalfield Citizens’ Guide To Using The Law To Fight Back Against The Ravages Of Strip Mining And Underground Mining, Washington, D. Environmental Policy Institute, Friends of the Earth, 1990. United States Department of the Interior. Mining Sets Off Earthquake in West Germany”. Impact of Mining Activity on Water Resource: An Overview study”. Averting a global environmental collapse : the role of anthropology and local knowledge. Environmental Impact of Coal Mining on Water Regime and Its Management”.
Wet Disposal of Fossil Plant Waste Case History”. Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals From Electric Utilities. Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals from Electric Utilities Rulemakings”. Managing irrigation water quality, Oregon State University, US, Retrieved on 4 October 2012. Steam Electric Power Generating Effluent Guidelines—2015 Final Rule”. Most US coal plants are contaminating groundwater with toxins, analysis finds”.
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. Coal Combustion: Nuclear Resource or Danger”. We have the dirtiest air in the world”. Much objection against mining next to Marloth Park”. Human Impacts on Atmospheric Chemistry, by PJ Crutzen and J Lelieveld, Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Vol. National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants From Coal- and Oil-Fired Electric Utility Steam Generating Units and Standards of Performance for Fossil-Fuel-Fired Electric Utility, Industrial-Commercial-Institutional, and Small Industrial-Commercial-Institutional Steam Generating Units. Basic Information about Mercury and Air Toxics Standards”.
Mercury in stream ecosystems—new studies initiated by the U. Anthony De Palma,”Bald Eagles in Catskills Show Increasing Mercury New York Times, 24 November 2008. Fact Sheet 146-00 : Mercury in the Environment Archived 18 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine, U. What Will Work: Fighting Climate Change with Renewable Energy, Not Nuclear Power, Oxford University Press, 2011, pg. A Coal-Fired Plant That Is Eager for U. ExternE-Pol, External costs of current and advanced electricity systems, associated with emissions from the operation of power plants and with the rest of the energy chain, final technical report.
Scientists studying pollution damage to computers”. Where Greenhouse Gases Come From — Energy Explained, Your Guide To Understanding Energy”. Energy Information Administration, US Department of Energy. Implications of “peak oil” for atmospheric CO2 and climate”. Radioactive Elements in Coal and Fly Ash, USGS Factsheet 163-97″. Coal Ash Is More Radioactive than Nuclear Waste: Scientific American”, Scientific American, Nature America, Inc. Panel to Explore Deadly Mine Accident”.
Company info
[/or]
No Survivors Found After West Virginia Mine Disaster”. Map of Death and Disease from U. Emissions Of Hazardous Air Pollutants From Coal-Fired Power Plants American Lung Assn. Note: Peat is considered a precursor to coal. Graphite is only technically considered a coal type. Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is primarily used as a fuel. While coal has been known and used for thousands of years, its usage was limited prior to the Industrial Revolution.
With the invention of the steam engine coal consumption increased. The extraction and use of coal causes many premature deaths and much illness. The largest consumer and importer of coal is China. China mines almost half the world’s coal, followed by India with about a tenth. Coal is composed of macerals, minerals and water. Fossils and amber may be found in coal.
The conversion of dead vegetation into coal is called coalification. At various times in the geologic past, the Earth had dense forests in low-lying wetland areas. Of the factors involved in coalification, temperature is much more important than either pressure or time of burial. Favorable geography alone does not explain the extensive Carboniferous coal beds. One theory suggested that about 360 million years ago, some plants evolved the ability to produce lignin, a complex polymer that made their cellulose stems much harder and more woody. The ability to produce lignin led to the evolution of the first trees.
[or]
[/or]
[or]
[/or]
One likely tectonic factor was the Central Pangean Mountains, an enormous range running along the equator that reached its greatest elevation near this time. Climate modeling suggests that the Central Pangean Mountains contributed to the deposition of vast quantities of coal in the late Carboniferous. Coal is known from Precambrian strata, which predate land plants. This coal is presumed to have originated from residues of algae. Cyclothems are thought have their origin in glacial cycles that produced fluctuations in sea level, which alternately exposed and then flooded large areas of continental shelf. Various other organic compounds, such as waxes and nitrogen- and sulfur-containing compounds, are also present. Carbonization proceeds primarily by dehydration, decarboxylation, and demethanation.
[or]
[/or]
Houses walsall
CH4 In each of these formulas, R represents the remainder of a cellulose or lignin molecule to which the reacting groups are attached. Dehydration and decarboxylation take place early in coalification, while demethanation begins only after the coal has already reached bituminous rank. The effect of decarboxylation is to reduce the percentage of oxygen, while demethanation reduces the percentage of hydrogen. Chemical changes are accompanied by physical changes, such as decrease in average pore size. Sub-bituminous coal, whose properties range between those of lignite and those of bituminous coal, is used primarily as fuel for steam-electric power generation. Bituminous coal, a dense sedimentary rock, usually black, but sometimes dark brown, often with well-defined bands of bright and dull material. It is used primarily as fuel in steam-electric power generation and to make coke. Anthracite, the highest rank of coal, is a harder, glossy black coal used primarily for residential and commercial space heating.
Destroys the genetic soil profile, much objection against mining next to Marloth Park”. Many homes in such areas gather this coal as a significant — chemicals have been produced from coal since the 1950s. The Farmington coal mine disaster kills 78. When coal is used for electricity generation, the contamination of both groundwater and nearby streams may be for long periods of time. A 2001 EU, this coal is presumed to have originated from residues of algae.
There are several international standards for coal. The classification of coal is generally based on the content of volatiles. The earliest recognized use is from the Shenyang area of China where by 4000 BC Neolithic inhabitants had begun carving ornaments from black lignite. Coal from the Fushun mine in northeastern China was used to smelt copper as early as 1000 BC. Among the materials that are dug because they are useful, those known as anthrakes are made of earth, and, once set on fire, they burn like charcoal. No evidence exists of the product being of great importance in Britain before about AD 1000, the High Middle Ages. 13th century, when underground extraction by shaft mining or adits was developed. The alternative name was “pitcoal”, because it came from mines.
A grade between bituminous coal and anthracite was once known as “steam coal” as it was widely used as a fuel for steam locomotives. In this specialized use, it is sometimes known as “sea coal” in the United States. Coal played an important role in industry in the 19th and 20th century. The predecessor of the European Union, the European Coal and Steel Community, was based on the trading of this commodity. Coal continues to arrive on beaches around the world from both natural erosion of exposed coal seams and windswept spills from cargo ships. Many homes in such areas gather this coal as a significant, and sometimes primary, source of home heating fuel. Emission intensity is the greenhouse gas emitted over the life of a generator per unit of electricity generated. 2017 and Asia used almost three quarters of it. Coking coal should be low in ash, sulfur, and phosphorus, so that these do not migrate to the metal.
Finely ground bituminous coal, known in this application as sea coal, is a constituent of foundry sand. While the molten metal is in the mould, the coal burns slowly, releasing reducing gases at pressure, and so preventing the metal from penetrating the pores of the sand. During gasification, the coal is mixed with oxygen and steam while also being heated and pressurized. 3CO If the refiner wants to produce gasoline, the syngas is routed into a Fischer-Tropsch reaction. This is known as indirect coal liquefaction. Coal can be converted directly into synthetic fuels equivalent to gasoline or diesel by hydrogenation or carbonization. Coal liquefaction may also refer to the cargo hazard when shipping coal.
