Advantages and Disadvatanges of Using Coal?

Question

What are some advantages and disadvantages of using coal to provide for our energy needs?

I need about four advantages and four disadvantages.

Thanks

Answer 1

Is this summer school homework?

;-)

Answer 2

Coal Disadvantages:  IT IS DIRTY!  The hype from these companies is unbelievable.  

                                       It's a fossil fuel (defeats the purpose)

                                       The miners are still going to get and die from Black Lung Disease.

                                       It emits greenhouse gases

Advantages:  It will give some people work, a paycheck, food for their family and pay the rent.  THE ONLY ADVANTAGES!

Answer 3

I will not comment on environmentalists.  The response: 1. there is a 250 year supply of recoverable coal for electrical power generation in the U.S. 2. the Clean Air Act of 2005 has reduced, standing alone, the carbon emissions by 25 percent by requiring a mix of natural gas with coal in U.S. electrical utility plants 3.  until there is a nuclear power electrical generation is widely accepted there is no financially feasible substitute for coal  4.  the existing electrical power generation infrastructure cannot be replaced by a "quilt work" of wind and solar due to near zero base from where the technicians to service the wind-solar functional interruptions.  These are practical answers to the questions you pose.  Another contributor can provide the disadvantages.

Answer 4

Advantages we have plenty of the stuff,only problem deep

mines flooded.While we have been buying east european,

cheap.Now it is not cheap,so for a false economy,our coal

is a lot harder to get.Disadvantages,have you tried filling AGA

cooker and emptying the ash,and when it goes out relighting

it.Lot of work.

Answer 5

pros

generates heat

alot of it

inexpensive

provides jobs to make

cons

pollution- generate carbon

the need we need to sustain ourselfs

waste

can cause fires to things

when it runs out:

prices to get more

lack of jobs

Answer 6

Advantages: Its the cheapest form of energy.

Disadvantages: Emmision of soot and CO2 that can cause AGW.

However, we can still use coal  with a new system called PEM (plasma enhanced meltor) which is rather expensive to convert the present generators.

Answer 7

Advantages:

-cheap

-easy to find (there is a lot of it)

Can't really think of any others, sorry

Disadvantages:

-Emits vast quantities of SO2 into the atmosphere causing acid rain

-and air pollution

-which results in people getting very sick (the SO2 from coal is a major factor in smog, which causes many respiratory problems)

-mining it is dangerous

-mining it is also bad for the environment because it tears up the ground, and the coal leaks into underground water supplies, contaminating them

-these water supplies usually either directly or by feeding into a river go to humans and animals, so once again, bad for health

-mining it gives black lung to the workers

So basically, it is cheap, but so bad for the environment and human (as well as other animal/plant) health that it is not really worth it.

Hope that helps

Edit:

in response to thomas p:

He said the Clean Air Act reduced 25% of CO2 emissions.  The problem is, coal is so "dirty" that even this so called "clean" coal is far from actually environmentally safe, and still emits HUGE quantities of pollutants.

Plus, CO2 is only one of the pollutants -sulfur dioxide is the major one, and that is only reduced by  a little through the Clean Air Act.

In fact, I would argue that until we have nuclear energy or (and this is better) find a way to get wind/solar/hydrogen/hydroelectric power more efficiently, Natural Gas is the best source of energy.  It is one of the cheaper, more abundant, and easy to mine sources, and is relatively "clean" though still not clean enough as it emits quite a lot of methane and carbon dioxide