The Ultimate List Advantages of Coal

Coal is currently used in a wide variety of different applications. From generating electricity (steam and thermal coal) to many of the daily items we use require coal for their production.

There are two primary types of coal.

1) Steam Coal (thermal) mainly used for power generation

2) Coking Coal (metallurgical) used mainly for production.

Unfortunately, all of this use from us over may have helped contribute to the changes we are experiencing in our environment and climate today.

I have looked everywhere I could to find every different pro, and con that coal has to offer.

So keep reading and decide for your self if coal is a product you are comfortable spending your money on.

Coal is the cheapest of all the fossil fuels we use. The extraction of coal is significantly easier than collecting oil or natural gas.

Many coal sites only require traditional heavy equipment and explosives to perform the mining. Oil and natural gas, on the other hand, require specialized equipment and techniques that are significantly more expensive.

It makes no difference if opencast mining (surface) or deep mining (underground) the same general equipment will get used. Not having specialized equipment helps to keep the company's overhead lower.

Many places now use explosives to expose coal seams preventing the workers having to go underground to mine it. Well, this method is safer for the miners. It causes more visual damage to our environment.

Since transportation gets done by trucks and trains costs are cheaper than fossil fuels that require pipelines.

2. Large Amount Available

Coal can get found in every continent with over 70 counties that contain deposits of it.

America currently has a reserve of mined coal that could fuel our current resources for close to 150 years.

Other countries with the largest reserves are China, India, and Russia.

It is essential to not rely on other countries to meet our energy requirements.

It would be only a matter of time until they would use this for their advantage.

Being able to collect and use our resources for power generation ensures our energy security.

3. Storage Safe

For people using coal at home since it does not contain any holes on its surface, oil and gas cannot pass through it. The Fireplace Supplier Register states that you can store it in damp places or even outside with no protection from rain or snow.

Once you are ready to use it, bring it inside, give it a quick wipe, and use it right away.

Many people still use coal to heat their cottages, and others have their homes heated by it. An added advantage of using coal over wood is that it burns both hotter and longer.

Issues from transportation like crashes do not contaminate the area the way gas and oil will. We also do not have to fear explosions happening either.

It also does not use any expensive high-pressure pipelines that require continual upkeep.

Chances of properly kept coal storage piles combusting are infrequent compared to any other fossil fuel.

4. Low Capital Investment

The price of coal per watt of thermal capacity is still lower than than the cost of wind and solar both which have a higher cost per watt of electricity.

Another low cost is the price for the creation of the coal mines. Open Cast mining can provide us with coal at an extremely reduced price when compared to underground mining practices.

The fact that many of our power generation technologies were initially designed with coal in mind helps to keep capital investment in it low.

5. Industrialization (jobs)

The EIA states that there are 52 coal mines in the U.S.A. alone with 600 coal generating facilities, 110 manufacturing sites employing an estimated 140, 000 people.

Since coal use continues to rise around the world, more jobs will be created to help fill the demand. It is also estimated that over the next 10 to 15 years, around 50,000 retiring workers will need to be replaced.

On average most mines pay their employees between 30 and 35 dollars significantly higher than many other industries.

6. Large Production of Electricity

Because coal plants are not reliant on the weather like many renewable energy sources, power plants can run almost continuously 24/7.

It gets estimated that coal fulled power plants still generate around 38 percent of the world's electricity.

Being an older technology has allowed the industry to keep maximizing its efficiency.

We are continually able to produce the same amount of energy while we burn smaller and smaller amounts of coal.

7. Independent of Weather Conditions

One of the major problems with many implementations of renewable energy like solar panels, hydro-energy, and wind turbines is that the available power generated is directly tied to the current climate conditions.

On cloudy days solar is less efficient, no wind and our turbines stop producing electricity.

Coal mining, on the other hand, is not dependent on the weather. The only time mining companies will need to halt their activity is when there is a declared danger making the mine inoperable. Beyond this, rain, snow, or sun, these sites will stay in constant operation.

8. Big Industrial Base

Since it is an older and well-established energy source, there are many companies invested in its.

Having a significant industrial base helps to ensure the stability and longevity of its production.

9. Coal Can Get Converted to Liquids and Gases

While production has lowered since we started collecting natural gas, many fuel sources were created by processing coal into a liquid and gas.

By heating the coal in the absence of air, we can extract the different gases contained in it. The mix of gases commonly collected were hydrogen, methane, ethylene, and carbon.

The defense department has been looking into using these methods to help further reduce the dependence we have on Middle Eastern Crude Oil.

10. Versatile (Many Application Uses)

Coal gets used in a large number of different items we rely on daily.

11. Oil Dependency Reduced

Reducing our dependence on foreign oil helps ensure our energy security.

Many of the countries that we purchase oil from are a national security risk, and our reliance on their oil must get minimized.

Coal reduces our dependency on foreign oil. And with the increasing popularity of electric cars coal power plants can provide the electricity to charge them further reducing our need for foreign oil.

Source: Green4life

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