How coal is created:
Plants and natural materials are compressed from millions of years prior. After being compressed for such a long time, a fossil fuel is made known as coal.
How it works as energy:
Coal is gathered by removing and above coal deposits and sometimes explosives are used. Once extracted, coal is ground up to a fine powder and is burned. The resulting heat is used to turn water into vapor. The steam's high pressure is then used to spin a turbine, connected to an electrical generator, therefore making energy.
cost:
The cost of coal is $345 billion a year, according to Harvard researchers. With that, coal is one of the most expensive fuels in the U.S. However, slowly changing our fuel sources to renewable energy, construction of a worldwide wind, water and solar system would cost $100 trillion over 20 years, including upgrades to the grid as said by Mark Jacobson, a civil and environmental engineering professor at Stanford, and Mark Delucchi, a research scientist at the University of California.
Benefits and drawbacks:
Benefits of coal include reliability, affordability, abundance, known technologies, safety, and efficiency. The drawbacks of coal mining are that it is not renewable, can create high levels of radiation, and even clean coal releases large amounts of methane.
Interesting facts:
Coal, gas, and oil are the fossil fuels responsible for most of the world's electricity and energy demands. Coal, which is readily available in most of the developing and developed world, has been used as a major source of fuel even in ancient human civilizations. It also found its use in historic steam engines at the dawn of the industrial revolution.
Sources:
https://vittana.org/14-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-coal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylkdUuNOJzw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6zBun7zZs0
https://vittana.org/14-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-coal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylkdUuNOJzw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6zBun7zZs0