Fossil Energy Study Guide: 300 million years ago

WHAT IS COAL?

Coal looks like a shiny black rock. Coal has lots of energy in it.
When it is burned, coal makes heat and light energy. The cave men Before the dinosaurs, many giant
used coal for heating, and later for cooking. Burning coal was easier plants died in swamps.
because coal burned longer than wood and, therefore, did not 100 million years ago
have to be collected as often.
People began using coal in the 1800s to
heat their homes. Trains and ships used coal
for fuel. Factories used coal to make iron
Water
and steel. Today, we burn coal mainly to
make electricity. Dirt
Dead Plants
COAL IS A FOSSIL FUEL

Coal was formed millions of years ago, Over millions of years, the plants were
before the dinosaurs. Back then, much of the buried under water and dirt.
earth was covered by huge swamps. They were filled with giant ferns and Today
plants. As the plants died, they sank to the bottom of the swamps.
Over the years, thick layers of plants were covered by dirt and
water. They were packed down by the weight. After a long time, the
heat and pressure changed the plants into coal. Coal is called a fossil
fuel because it was made from plants that were once alive! Since
coal comes from plants, and plants get their energy from the sun, the Rocks and Dirt
energy in coal also came from the sun.
Coal
The coal we use today took millions of years to form. We can’t make
more in a short time. That is why coal is called nonrenewable. Heat and pressure turned the
dead plants into coal.
Fossil Energy Study Guide: Coal

COAL IS OUR MOST ABUNDANT FUEL Coal is used primarily in the United States to generate electricity.
In fact, it is burned in power plants to produce more than half of the
The United States has more coal reserves than any other country in
electricity we use. A stove uses about half a ton of coal a year. A water
the world. In fact, one-fourth of all the known coal in the world is in the
heater uses about two tons of coal a year. And a refrigerator, that’s
United States. The United States has more coal that can be mined than
another half-ton a year. Even though you may never see coal, you use
the rest of the world has oil that can be pumped from the ground. We
several tons of it every year!
have enough to last more than 250 years!
Coal is not only our most abundant fossil fuel, it is also the one with
Currently, coal is mined in 25 of the 50 states.
perhaps the longest history.

key
Fossil Energy Study Guide: Coal

A BRIEF HISTORY OF COAL to the United States. Steamships and steam-powered railroads were
main forms of transportation, and they used coal to fuel their boilers.
Coal is the most plentiful fuel in the fossil family and it has the
longest and, perhaps, the most varied history. Coal has been used for In the second half of the 1800s, more uses for coal were found.
heating since the cave man. Archeologists have also found evidence that During the Civil War, weapons factories were beginning to use coal.
the Romans in England used it in the second and third centuries (100- By 1875, coke (which is made from coal, and is not the same as Coca-
200 AD). Cola!) replaced charcoal as the primary fuel for iron blast furnaces to
In the 1700s, the English found that coal could produce a fuel that make steel.
burned cleaner and hotter than wood charcoal. The burning of coal to generate electricity is a relative newcomer in
During the 1300s in North America, the Hopi Indians used coal for the long history of this fossil fuel. It was in the 1880s when coal was first
cooking, heating and to bake the pottery they made from clay. Coal was used to generate electricity for homes and factories. By 1961, coal had
later rediscovered in the United States by explorers in 1673. become the major fuel used to generate electricity in the United States.

The Industrial Revolution played a major role in expanding the Long after homes were being lighted by electricity produced by
use of coal. A man named James Watt invented the steam engine which coal, many of them continued to have furnaces for heating and some had
made it possible for machines to do work previously done by humans stoves for cooking that were fueled by coal.
and animals. Mr. Watt used coal to make the steam to run his engine. Today we use a lot of coal, primarily because we have a lot of it and
During the first half of the 1800s, the Industrial Revolution spread we know where it is in the United States.
Fossil Energy Study Guide: Coal

COAL MINING AND TRANSPORTATION In the mine, coal is loaded in small coal cars or on conveyor belts
which carry it outside the mine to where the larger chunks of coal are
Most coal is buried under the ground. If coal is near the surface,
loaded into trucks that take it to be crushed (smaller pieces of coal are
miners dig it up with huge machines. First, they scrape off the dirt and
easier to transport, clean, and burn).
rock, then dig out the coal. This is called surface mining.
The crushed coal can then be sent by truck, ship, railroad, or barge.
After the coal is mined, they put back the dirt and rock. They
You may be surprised to know that coal can also be shipped by pipeline.
plant trees and grass. The land can then be used again. This is called
Crushed coal can be mixed with oil or water (the mixture is called a
reclamation.
slurry) and sent by pipeline to an industrial user.
If the coal is deep in the ground, tunnels called mine shafts are dug
down to the coal. Machines dig the coal and carry it to the surface.
Some mine shafts are 1,000 feet deep. This is called deep mining, or
underground mining.

We Dig for Coal

Fossil Energy Study Guide: Coal

CONVERTING COAL INTO ELECTRICITY The process of converting coal into electricity has multiple steps
and is similar to the process used to convert oil and natural gas into
Nine out of every 10 tons of coal mined in the United States today
electricity:
are used to make electricity, and nearly half of the electricity used in this
country is coal-generated electricity. 1. A machine called a pulverizer grinds the coal into a fine
powder.
Electricity from coal is the electric power made from the energy
stored in coal. Carbon, made from ancient plant material, gives coal 2. The coal powder mixes with hot air, which helps the coal burn
most of its energy. This energy is released when coal is burned. more efficiently, and the mixture moves to the furnace.

We use coal-generated electricity for: 3. The burning coal heats water in a boiler, creating steam.

 heating, 4. Steam from the boiler spins the blades of an engine called a
turbine, transforming heat energy from burning coal into
 cooling,
mechanical energy that spins the turbine engine.
 cooking, Turning Coal into
5. The spinning turbine is used to power a generator, a
 lighting, Electricity machine that turns mechanical energy into
 transportation, electric energy. This happens when
 communication, magnets inside a copper coil in the
generator spin.
 farming,
6. A condenser cools the steam moving
 industry, through the turbine. As the steam is
 healthcare, condensed, it turns back into water.
 and much more! 7. The water returns to the boiler, and the
cycle begins again.

The steps for converting coal into electricity

are shown here, and described above. An actual
photo of a turbine is shown in the circle.
Turbines have fan-like blades attached to a shaft
that spin to generate power. Practically every
form of electric power is generated by a turbine.
Even the Space Shuttle uses a gas turbine!
Fossil Energy Study Guide: Coal

DELIVERING ELECTRICITY delivery process is instantaneous. By the time you have flipped a switch
to turn on a light, electricity has been delivered.
Electricity-generating plants send out electricity using a
transformer, which changes the electricity from low voltage to high COAL’S ROLE IN OUR ELECTRICAL SUPPLY
voltage. This is an important step, as it gives electricity the jolt it needs
to travel from the power plant to its final destination. Voltages are often Natural gas and oil are also used to make electricity. How does coal
as high as 500,000 volts at this point. compare to these other fossil fuels? In terms of supply, coal has a clear
advantage. The United States has nearly 300 billion tons of recoverable
Electricity flows along transmission lines to substation
coal. That is enough to last more than 250 years if we continue to use
transformers. These transformers reduce the voltage for use in the local
coal at the same rate as we use it today.
areas to be served.
But what about costs? The mining, transportation, electricity
From the substation transformers, electricity travels along
generation, and pollution-control costs associated with using coal are
distribution lines, which can be either above or below the ground, to
increasing, but both natural gas and oil are becoming more expensive to
cities and towns. Transformers once again reduce the voltage—this time
use as well. This is, in part, because the United States must import much
to about 120 to 140 volts—for safe use inside homes and businesses. The
of its oil supply from other countries. It has enough coal,
however, to take care of its electricity needs, with enough
Transformer changes
the voltage of electricity left over to export some coal as well.
The cost of using coal should continue to be even
H
IG

more competitive, compared with the rising cost of other

LO
H

fuels. In fact, generating electricity from coal is cheaper

W
than the cost of producing electricity from natural gas.
In the United States, 23 of the 25 electric power plants
with the lowest operating costs use coal. Inexpensive
Transmission lines
carry electricity electricity, such as that generated by coal, means lower
long distances operating costs for businesses and for homeowners. This
advantage can help increase coal’s competitiveness in the
Electricity-generating plants send
marketplace.
out electricity

How Electricity Distribution lines

carry electricity
Gets to Your House to your house
Fossil Energy Study Guide: Coal

CLEANING UP COAL We also have new technologies that cut back on the release of carbon
dioxide by burning coal more efficiently.
Coal is our most abundant fossil fuel. The United States has
Many of these technologies belong to a family of energy systems
more coal than the rest of the world has oil. There is still enough coal
called “clean coal technologies.”
underground in this country to provide energy for the next 250 years or
more. HOW DO YOU MAKE COAL CLEANER?
But coal is not a perfect fuel.
Actually there are several ways.
Trapped inside coal are traces of impurities like sulfur and nitrogen.
One way is to clean the coal before it arrives at the power plant. This
When coal burns, these impurities are released into the air.
is done by simply crushing the coal into small chunks and washing it.
While floating in the air, these substances can combine with water
Another way is to use “scrubbers” that remove the sulfur dioxide (a
vapor (for example, in clouds) and form droplets that fall to earth as
pollutant) from the smoke of coal-burning power plants.
weak forms of sulfuric and nitric acid. Scientists call it “acid rain.”
There are also tiny specks of minerals—including common dirt—
mixed in coal. These tiny particles don’t burn and make up the ash left
behind in a coal combustor. Some of the tiny particles also get caught
up in the swirling combustion gases and, along with water vapor, form
the smoke that comes out of a coal plant’s smokestack. Some of these
particles are so small that 30 of them laid side-by-side would barely
equal the width of a human hair!
Also, coal like all fossil fuels is formed out of carbon. All living
things—even people—are made up of carbon. (Remember—coal started
out as living plants.) But when coal burns, its carbon combines with
oxygen in the air and forms carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a colorless,
odorless gas, but in the atmosphere, it is one of several gases that can
trap the earth’s heat. Many scientists believe this is causing the earth’s
temperature to rise, and this warming could be altering the earth’s climate.
Sounds like coal is a dirty fuel to burn. Many years ago, it was.
But things have changed. Especially in the last 20 years, scientists have
developed ways to capture the pollutants trapped in coal before they can
escape into the air.
Fossil Energy Study Guide: Coal

HOW DO SCRUBBERS WORK? THE CLEANEST COAL TECHNOLOGY —A REAL GAS!

Most scrubbers rely on a very common substance found in nature We can even turn coal into a gas—using lots of heat and water—in
called “limestone.” We literally have mountains of limestone throughout a process called gasification. When coal is turned into a gas, we can
the United States. When crushed and processed, limestone can be made burn it and use it to spin a gas turbine to generate electricity. The exhaust
into a white powder. Limestone can be made to absorb sulfur gases gases coming out of the gas turbine are hot enough to boil water to
under the right conditions—much like a sponge absorbs water. make steam that can spin another type of turbine to generate even more
In most scrubbers, limestone (or another similar material called electricity. But why go to all the trouble to turn the coal into gas if all
lime) is mixed with water and sprayed into the coal combustion gases you are going to do is burn it?
(called “flue gases”). The limestone captures the sulfur and “pulls” it out A big reason is that the pollutants in coal—like sulfur, nitrogen
of the gases. The limestone and sulfur combine with each other to form and carbon dioxide —can be almost entirely cleaned up when coal is
either a wet paste (it looks like toothpaste!), or in some newer scrubbers, changed into a gas. In fact, scientists have ways to remove 99.9 percent
a dry powder. In either case, the sulfur is trapped and prevented from of the sulfur and small dirt particles from coal gas. Gasifying coal is one
escaping into the air. of the best ways to clean pollutants out of coal.
Another reason is that the coal gases don’t have to be burned. They
can also be used as valuable chemicals. Scientists have developed ways to
turn coal gases into everything from liquid fuels for cars and trucks to
plastic toothbrushes!
Fossil Energy Study Guide: Coal

COAL AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a colorless, odorless gas that is produced

CARBON STORAGE
naturally when humans and animals breathe. The main source of man-
made CO2 emissions, however, is the burning of fossil fuels (oil, natural
gas and coal) for energy production. Carbon dioxide is important
for plants and animals, but if too much of it is produced, it can build
up in the air and trap heat near the earth’s surface. This is called the CO2
greenhouse effect.
To clean CO2 from power plants, scientists have been studying how
to capture the CO2 coming up a power plant’s smokestack before it
gets into the air. The CO2 can then gathered, transported, and eventually
stored deep underground or in the ocian, where it’s supposed to sit for a
long, long time. Scientists are even studying ways to recycle the CO2 into
new materials. The technical name for this process is carbon capture and
storage, or carbon sequestration.
It is expected that coal and other fossil fuels will remain a major
energy source for years to come. Many environmentalists believe that
capturing and storing CO2 from power plants, combined with other
efforts, could help fight climate change.
Scientists continue to research and develop carbon sequestration
technologies. It is important to make sure these new processes are
environmentally acceptable and safe. For example, scientists must
determine that CO2 will not escape from under the ground, or
contaminate drinking water supplies. Carbon capture and storage is an
exciting area of research and development for today’s scientists.