Why is coal burning bad?

First of all, coal is an efficient and cheap fuel that allows us to generate as much electricity as we wish, as well as providing an easy method of smelting iron ore. There are many good things about coal, but the problems it creates can exceed those benefits, forcing us to look for alternatives.

Coal, and especially brown coal, is quite polluting. It produces particulate pollution, as well as dangerous sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide gases. These can be filtered out, but traditionally have simply been vented into the atmosphere.

Most importantly, burning coal is bad because it adds large amounts of new carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. As carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, that leads to global warming, which is one of the most serious problems facing society in the twenty-first century. We need to replace our usage of coil and oil by alternative energy sources.