Coal is a combustible sedimentary rock made of carbon and hydrocarbons. According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), it is considered the most abundant fossil fuel produced in the U.S. and has supplied the nation with affordable electricity for years.
In fact, the U.S. has the world’s largest supply of coal and currently harbors one quarter of the world’s coal reserves, which contain enough energy to surpass that of the world’s known retrievable oil. At the nation’s current level of use, the U.S. has enough coal to last more than two hundred years. Currently, the U.S. produces more than a billion short tons of coal per year. It is mined in 27 states, including Wyoming, West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Texas.
While more than 90 percent of the coal consumed in the U.S. is used to generate electricity, it is also a basic energy source for many of the nation’s industries, including steel, paper and cement.
Though coal has the potential to negatively affect the environment during the mining process and when it is burned as a fuel, environmental laws and modern technologies have greatly reduced coal’s impact on the environment according to the Energy Information Administration. The coal industry currently implements various methods to reduce sulfur, nitrogen oxides, and other impurities from coal. Additionally, they have found better ways of cleaning coal before it leaves the mines, and coal companies specifically look for low-sulfur coal to produce. Power plants also utilize scrubbers to “clean” sulfur from the smoke before it exits smokestacks.
Both the coal industry and federal government have collaborated to develop “clean coal technologies” that either remove sulfur and nitrogen oxides from coal, or convert coal to a gas or liquid fuel. These technologies can also be used to decrease mercury emissions from some types of coal. Since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set tighter mercury limits for the future, scientists and researchers are working on new ways to reduce mercury emissions from coal-burning power plants.
As the largest source of electricity in the U.S., coal is an essential part of the nation’s energy portfolio. Further, abundant domestic supplies of coal make it an ideal energy source for the future. The DOE and EPA have been working to develop cleaner coal technologies that focus on reducing emissions, trapping greenhouse gases and eliminating water pollution.
Sources: Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Coalition for Affordable and Reliable Energy