The Scoop on Coal

Coal is one of the easiest resources to collect because it can be found on all the continents but is it safe to use? Our research done in the media hub shows that while it is an abundant source of energy it releases lots of harmful things like soot, CO2, and sulfur. It also degrades farmland & creates acid rain. Coal is mainly used to produce electricity for power plants but in the twelfth century it was mainly used to smelt metals.  It is a fossil fuel meaning that it can run out in our lifetime but eventually it would return. Coal is made from plants that have degraded and were compacted by all of the rock. One of the reasons coal releases so much heat energy is because while it was a plant it stored lots of sunlight and when burnt it releases all of the sunlight it had stored. Coal is classified in ranks, or types, according to the amount of heat it produces. The ranks are Lignite, Sub-Bituminous, and Bituminous. Lignite is the softest and it contains the most moisture while releasing the least carbon. Then Sub-Bituminous which has less moisture but releases a little more carbon than Lignite. Then finally there is Bituminous which has no moisture and releases large amounts of carbon.

BY: N and A