Hydrogen-powered cars are the cutting edge of green technology designed to avoid the pollution and climate change caused by using fossil fuels The future of personal cars trains planes and public transportation may be closely tied to hydrogen energy And the single most important source for this clean fuel is a black rock with a long and complicated history coal COAL’S LONG HISTORY Coal is a combustible black rock formed from fossilized plant matter That is why coal and similarly formed fuels are called fossil fuels It has a high carbon content and lies in long underground seams or layers Coal is abundant there are huge reserves in Europe North America and East Asia Humans have been using coal as a source of heat for centuries The Hopi people of western North America used coal 800 years ago The ancient Romans used it too 2,000 years ago Where coal lay near the surface it could be easily mined and transported to nearby homes and forges During the Industrial Revolution of the 1700s and 1800s coal fired new technology such as factory steam boilers and locomotives It was also used to fuel heating stoves in the home For a few decades coal was the principal source of energy in the United States At its height in the early 1900s the coal industry included more than 12,000 mines that employed more than 700,000 people 1 Today the mining industry is the most important employer in parts of West Virginia Kentucky Illinois and Wyoming It supports thousands of families as well as local schools and 6
Humans have long known that burning coal produces a high and steady heat 7
public works projects paid for by business taxes Coal is still an important feedstock for electric power plants in the United States China India and several other countries around the world COAL CHALLENGES Coal was once a prospering business relying on a steady and strong demand for its product But in the 2000s mine operators found it increasingly difficult to stay in business By June 2016 the value of coal from the Powder River basin of Wyoming had fallen to 8 80 per short ton How Much for That Coal The price for a ton of coal depends on its rank quality or type where it’s mined how it’s mined its heat content and its sulfur content High-sulfur coal creates more sulfur dioxide emissions and is generally worth less than low-sulfur coal In general coal mined underground is more expensive than coal dug at the surface because the costs of underground mining are higher Coking coal used in steel production must be low-sulfur coal that goes through extensive processing at the mine to reduce the sulfur and ash content The most important factor however is rank The US Energy Information Administration found the following average prices for the different types of coal in 2013 Sub-bituminous 14 86 per short ton 0 9 metric tons Lignite 19 96 per short ton Bituminous 60 61 per short ton Anthracite 87 82 per short ton Coking coal 157 per short ton2 Another important factor is how a buyer pays for the coal Spot prices are quoted for delivery within a year The spot price can change quickly depending on the market price of coal which changes from day to day Most power plants however buy coal through long-term contracts These may run for several years and allow the utility buying the coal a more stable guaranteed price 8
0 9 metric tons a drop of more than 19 percent since the beginning of the year 3 At these relatively low prices many mines operate at a loss Coal is losing market share to other energy sources such as natural gas The main reason is cost a power plant using natural gas is less expensive to operate In 2015 coal claimed 35 percent of the market for power generation a fall of 9 percent since 2009 4 When the price of crude oil goes down as happened in 2015 coal also loses its value Tighter regulations by governments on coal use also make it less desirable as a fuel stock for power plants Besides the economic issues coal also faces environmental challenges As miners extract coal from the ground coal mining radically transforms the surrounding area Coal mines dug at the surface devastate old-growth forests in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia and Kentucky The process of washing coal for shipment creates a toxic sludge that pollutes streams and lakes unless the operator safely disposes of the refuse Coal burning itself releases sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide into the air These compounds react with rainwater to create acid rain which can damage building stone and is toxic to trees and wetlands A federal law known as the Clean Air Act of 1977 encouraged power companies to install special equipment to scrub these pollutants from combustion emissions But as of 2011 more than half of all coal-burning plants still lacked this equipment 5 Coal combustion also produces carbon dioxide which traps heat energy created by sunlight and in higher concentrations raises global surface temperatures Global warming is an important 9
