Figure 8.5 Steps used in producing “clean coal”Pros
■ Known world reserves will last approximately 300 years at the current
rate of consumption.
■ Relatively high net-energy yield.
■ U.S. government subsidies keep prices low, making coal’s overall cost
low compared to other fuels.Cons
■ Most extraction in the United States is done through either strip mining or
underground mining, which causes disruptions to the land through
erosion, leaching, runoff, and a decrease in biodiversity.
■ Burning coal releases mercury, arsenic, sulfur (in the form of H 2 S and a
major contributor to both wet and dry acid precipitation), and radioactive
particles into the air.
■ Thirty-five percent of all CO 2 and thirty percent of all NOx emissions
released into the atmosphere are due to the burning of coal.
■ Underground mining is dangerous and unhealthy.