What are the advantages and disadvantages of coal as an energy source?

=== === Advantages of coal * Is abundant

* Is cheap to use

Disadvantages of coal * Cultivating coal is a very dangerous job - many men and women die each year in coal mine related failures and accidents

* Is very dirty to burn

* It causes black lung disease

* Is a major contributor to acid rain

* It emits a large brown cloud around its plants that clearly prove its polluting power

* It releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which is a major contributor to greenhouse gases.
One advantage of using coal as an energy source is that is widely available. It is estimated that the U.S. has enough coal reserves to last for about 200-300 years. If transportation systems were converted to electrical power it could decrease consumption of crude oil, which would keep the United States out of entangling alliances with foreign countries and possible wars. Since coal is generally produced in the country of use, it creates many jobs for the people of that country and minimizes the amount of other energy imports which are a negative term in the GDP equation.

Disadvantages include the pollution that comes with using coal. First since coal is mostly carbon, it produces more carbon dioxide per unit of energy than other fuel sources because of a high carbon to hydrogen ratio. Since carbon dioxide causes global warming, this presents all of the problems that come with it. Water pollution is another problem with the use of coal. Large amounts of water are used to prepare coal for use and this water is often dumped into nearby rivers and streams. Scrubbers used to remove the air pollution caused by coal burning also use copius amounts of water, which are then dumped directly into nearby rivers. Trace elements in coal include mercurcy, arsenic, and lead. While these elements are not present in large amounts, biological systems tend to "bioaccumulate" these elements which are harmful to the ecosystems and people that rely on them. Lastly, the mining of coal is especially harmful to the environment and often involves strip mining or mountaintop removal. Mountaintop removal involves removing an entire mountaintop with explosives to access the coal underneath.
I dont know much about coal, but one disadvantage is that it causes lots of pollution.