But it is clearly not the opinion of a number of people that say they care about the environment, since they generally prefer to phase out nuclear to replace it by… coal, as in Germany.
Is it worth having shortness of breath and constant mucous buildup just so you can enjoy your cigarette? When coal is dug up and later burned in power stations, it releases massive amounts of pollution, damaging our health and contributing to intensifying climate change. A coal fired power plant with a yield of 33% (which is the world average for these plants) will use roughly 400 kg of coal to produce one electric MWh. “Why put lives at risk over a polluting and pre-historic energy source, when a clean alternative is ready and waiting?” – Petra Stock, Senior Energy and Climate Solutions Analyst.
Pouring water on the coal seam can prevent a dusty air in the galleries, but it slows down production, so this process is not used in countries where going fast is the main objective and human health a secondary thought. The table below gives an estimate of the sanitary effect of an increase of the fine particles (PM10) on immediate mortality. Deaths or injuries can also come from mud slides (in open pit mines), elevator accidents…. If we look carefully, coal is, by far, the most dangerous of all the energies we use on earth, no matter whether we look at sanitary or environmental impacts. Emptying ashes from a coal stove and leaving them inside can lead to disaster. A burning rock, indeed, but still a rock. A coal stove that isn't properly vented can be subject to backdrafts that can fill the house with toxic coal fumes. Taking a spoonful of crushed coal is a Hillbilly treatment for many digestive disorders. But systematic autopsies are not the rule everywhere! A definite drawback! rules that took effect in 2015 required that the ponds be inspected for structural stability, have groundwater monitoring systems and that sites be cleaned up if contamination was found. Our pigs would eat coal. There are few types of charcoal. Never use coal - it'll poison your food. No matter how you label it, coal is always polluting. What remains after coal is burned includes fly ash, bottom ash and so-called scrubber sludge, said Lisa Evans, chief counsel to Earthjustice, an environmental law organization. Coal dust is harmful—the primary dangers are two disorders called coal workers pneumoconiosis (CWP) and progressive massive fibrosis (PMF). A gallery collapse for any other reason than an explosion: proping up poorly or not done, flooding, etc. Germany, that produces 300 TWh of electricity with coal (before phasing out nuclear), among which part is lignite (that has a higher proportion of ashes and is more “dirty” than hard coal) produces roughly 25 million tonnes of ashes per year (100,000 times the weight of nuclear waste for an equivalent electricity generation! Like we needed another reason to kick coal to the curb. Content is available under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. In some parts of the world, coal mining also has harmful working conditions and can lead to human health problems (such as ‘black lung’). One will notice that coal fired and gas fired power plants together account for almost a quarter of the world greenhouse gases emissions. Solar Panels in Melbourne’s Western Suburbs Have Doubled, Tim Flannery says coal communities are being kept in dark about dangers, Australia’s ancient electricity sector urgently needs a new plan.
Miners where very frequently exposed to this pathology in Europe a couple of decades ago, and it is still the case in a large number of countries in the present world.