The Energy Planet :: Coal Power

Home | Dictionary | Graphical material | Interactive Media Lab | Timeline

Test your knowledge about Coal Power!
View all the available quizzes.

Make a contribution to Coal Power.
Look at the current contributions.

Enter the discussion forum about traditional energy.
View all available forums.

Leave a personal message, sign our guestbook!
View the guestbook.

Coal Power

Coal Power
Hydroelectric Power
Natural Gas
Nuclear Power
Solar Power
Wind Power

Home
Traditional energy
Future Energy
Biographies
Experiments
How it Works
Cultures
General
About



	Search the website.

Introduction
The Origin Of Coal
Generating Energy From Coal
Facts

Credits

Introduction

250,000,000 to 400,000,000 years ago during what is known as the Carboniferous period, ancient forests, swamps and bogs thrived, growing with the energy released from the prehistoric sun. Over thousands of years, these habitats grew, and the life living within them produced biological material which compounded into thick layers. As the layers became thicker and deeper, pressure and heat began to change the structure of them. Because energy can be neither created nor destroyed, the energy that was used to grow the life in the forest was changed into a new form. This change created a new from of energy called coal.

The Origin Of Coal

Coal is produced by ancient forests and swamps that built up layers of biological materials as they grew. When the biological material died, it was submerged in water. During the decomposition of the material, oxygen and hydrogen atoms migrated out of the dead material, but carbon atoms remained. The layers of carbon became deeper and more compressed. As the pressure of these layers mounted, heat began to build up. After thousands of years, the pressure and heat became so intense, it was as if the material were in a biological kiln. During this time, the biological material and the energy it contained was changed into what is known as coal. Coal is found in many forms, yet its source is the same: biological materials. The only variable changing the form of coal is the amount of pressure, heat and time it spent in this biological kiln. These variables can create a hard coal called anthracite, or can create a soft coal known as bituminous.

Generating Energy From Coal

Energy exists within the coal, but in the form of the chemical bonds created during its fossilization. For the stored energy within coal to be released, heat is added as the activation energy. An analogy of this is that the stored energy within the coal is like a stretched piece of rubber. There is surely energy stored in the stretched rubber, but it is not being released. The activation energy for the stretched rubber is like a blade that severs the strand. The severing of the rubber releases the energy that was stored within it. Heat is the blade that severs the chemical bonds and releases the stored energy. The energy released from the coal is in the form of heat.
The heat energy released by the coal is transferred to water causing it to boil. The energy of the boiling water creates steam. The energy in steam is held in the form of great pressure. The pressure that is in the steam is the force used to spin the turbine on the generator. The turbine transfers the energy away from the steam pressure to a spinning motion. The spinning motion from the turbine is used to turn an electrical generator, which in turn generates electricity.
This process of extracting energy is easily implemented and is used to generate many different kinds of energy. The basic method of heating water to produce high-pressure steam that in turn spins turbines is common in many forms of energy extraction. The only variable changed is the source of heat, which can be anything from oil to nuclear fission.

Facts

Coal energy is rather efficient, and was cost effective, but is no longer used in many places for two main reasons: the first one being supply and the second being pollution. Coal is a non-renewable resource, and therefore, we will inevitably run out of it. We must be conservative with our coal use now so that we will have some left for later use. The major reason that coal power plants are not used though is the fact that they were huge producers of pollution. Coal is a fuel that burns with a thick black smoke that is released into the atmosphere. The smoke causes problems ranging from emphysema to discoloration of paint to even acid rain. These polluting effects of coal are caused by impurities within the coal itself. Because it is nearly impossible to strictly control a perfect ratio of fuel and oxygen, impurities such as sulfur and phosphorus will inevitably lead to the release of sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and other such pollutants into the atmosphere.
As we look towards the future of energy, we can see that coal energy is not an environmentally sound source for many reasons. The sulfur dioxide and nitrogen can bind with water in the atmosphere and create sulfuric and nitric acid, or acid rain. Acid rain can erode marble statues, kill wildlife, and pollute bodies of water. The large amounts of carbon dioxide released from the burning of coal increase the thickness of the atmosphere, leading the reality of a global warming disaster. Global warming, in its most advanced stages could melt the icecaps held at the poles leading to severe flooding of the earth.
In the United States, there is enough coal to last only another 50 years, after that, there will me no coal left. To improve the coal burning industry�s health record, scientists have developed new filters that can remove 99% of the smoke particles and 95% of the carbon dioxide released. These new advances may bring new hope to the industry, but new advances can still need to be made. Although coal power is slowly improving from its beginnings as a dangerous polluter, other less developed nations still burn coal without filters or regulations. For coal energy to be successful, we need to be able to implement these new filters into all coal burning facilities. If discoveries are made that make these filters more efficient and less expensive, coal may be a dependable source of energy for another 50 years, but only if the search for improvements continue!

Contributions

Lilly from United States contributed:

Unless acceptable alternatives are developed, it seems inevitable that coal will be used until supplies run out. So, that leads to two questions:

1. What can average people do to conserve energy? What can we do to ensure that business and industry becomes aware of its energy use?

2. What can people in developed countries do to encourage developing nations to create and follow environmental standards -- in a way that they can afford financially?

Victor Campos from Chile contributed:

I would like to help you with the translations. I am not an expert or something like that but if you like I can correct or modify what you have to give sense on your texts like this:

Albert Einstein naci� en Ulm, Alemania la 14 de marzo de 1879. Cinco a�os m�s tarde, en 1884, �l y su familia se trasladaron a Munich debido al nuevo trabajo de su padre. En 1901 lo naturalizaban como ciudadano suizo. Ocho a�os m�s tarde cuando Einstein era suizo a el le agrad� el trabajo de su profesor de f�sica te�rica en la universidad de Zurich. A partir la 1911 a 1912 �l ten�a el mismo trabajo que un profesor en Praga. En 1913 lo eligieron para formar parte de la academia de ciencia en Berl�n. Einstein recibi� el reconocimiento de su pais natal Alemania obteniendo as� la nacionalidad alemana en 1914. �l trabaj� por 19 a�os como profesor en Berl�n. A partir la 1920 a 1946 �l pod�a - oficialmente - ser profesor especial en Leiden, Holanda, tambi�n, pero debido a su emigraci�n, �l no trabaj� para la universidad durante mucho tiempo antes de 1946. Debido al movimiento NAZI, Einstein renunci� la ciudadan�a alemana en 1933. �l se traslad� a los Estados Unidos y trabaj� como profesor en Princeton, New Jersey hasta 1945. �l se hizo oficialmente americano en 1941. Albert Einstein muri� el 18 de abril de 1955.

VCC

Kirit M from India contributed:

to fuse two nuclei why don't we use the property that two similar charges moving in the same direction attract each other.

Robert Michaels from United States contributed:

In the section concerning tools used circa 3,500 B.C., no mention was made of electricity. I saw a clay pot with two electrodes in it, with a wire connected to each electrode, dating back to 5,000 B.C. in the museum in Cairo, and another on Crete. So far, I have never seen any reports about this. Can anyone elaborate on this?

Tony Gee from United States contributed:

i have a question:-how can the copper wire fields of the dyamo keep putting out electrons of a endless amount without being replaced after all electrons are used up. in the copper wire ,won't the copper wire turn into a isotope?i am a senior citizen retired electronic tech.and the idea came to my head.while i was working on my electron flow model.i am on a fixed income and live in a condo in ft.myers,fla. and my space is limited to play.thank you for any help or direction you you can give me.
tony gee(eltony2c@aol.com)

Aaron from Australia contributed:

It is necessary to utilise one of our country's major resources. It is in abundace in Australia and especially in Victoria where I live. Recently there have been substantial advances in coal power technology to reduce emmissions. Also the brown coal mined in Victoria is relatively clean of sulphur compounds like found in Europe and America. In Victoria the air quality is comparitively good because of these properties. Also we must not forget the communities in rural Victoria which rely on employment from these plants. Many families some even living under the poverty line rely on the power companies as a source of income. Entering a new millenium being left with an inheritance of environmental problems, it is all good and well to point the finger at different industies, but it is evident that alot work is being done to rectify the problem, and new technologies are always being developed to produce cleaner emissions. My tip is if you wish to be a true environmentalist and help to man-kind, you must look at
issues on a more local level aswell. If you have a passion to help the society and the Earth, a comprimise must be reached and we must consider people less fortunate than ourselves.

Credits

Peco "How Electricity is Made and Delivered" Peco Energy Corporation-Energy Education
http://www.peco.com/energy_ed/index.html

Wilbert Q. Fritz "Coal"
The World Book, 1980

National Coal Association "Coal"
Encarta Encyclopedia, 1997

DOE "Cleaning Up Coal", Fossil energy information page
http://www.fe.doe.gov/education/intro_coal.html

Bibliography

See how electricity is generat... more
Copyright © Team C004471 - The Energy Planet (Thinkquest 2000)

The Scranton mine in the Scran... more
Copyright © John Bravo. Permission obtained on 8th August, by Email message.