Coal
Coal- The Good
A large source of revenue for much of the Northeast, coal has been mined for profit since the beginning of the 1800s. Coal, which is composed mostly of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, is a naturally occurring, untreated, combustible rock. Coal is a fossil fuel, much like petroleum, oil shale and natural gas, which is derived from ancient plants that are buried in the Earth's crust. So how exactly does coal go from being a plant- a living, photosynthesizing organism- to a rock? During the Carboniferous Period, approximately 360 to 290 million years ago, prehistoric plants that died and decayed were buried under layers of sediment. Over millions of years, as more and more sediment covered the plants, the moisture was squeezed out of them. This process leaves only the hydrogen, sulfur, nitrogen, carbon, oxygen and inorganic mineral compounds found in the original plant matter. Though it would be easy to say that from these remnants, coal is formed, the process is still more involved. The ancient plants must go through another stage before becoming "coal" as we know it, and even then, it is only a low grade of it. The "peat" stage follows the plant stage, which is followed by the "lignite" stage. Lignite is considered the lowest grade of coal, because it still retains much of its moisture and is not very useful for making heat. The biggest factor in coal's heating ability is its carbon content, whereas the other inorganic material, such as moisture, lessens its heating value. Subbituminous coal, bituminous coal and anthracite are considered to be the higher-ranking coals, with anthracite wielding close to twice the heat of lignite.
Used for a variety of household purposes, including electricity and heat, coal is also a factor in almost every major industry. Of all the coal used in the United States last year, approximately 87 percent of it was used for electricity. Though coal is no longer a key in home heating, it has been used...
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