COALBy Chris Roos, Chris Tracy, and Ben Lanning

Hour 5

How it Works

• Coal is a combustible sedimentary rock• Formed from dead plant matter• Most commonly burned to generate heat,

creating steam that spins turbines, generating electricity

Chris Roos

The cost to make a coal power plant is around $780 million

Has been known to be the cheapest fossil fuel Cost is around $52.00 per short ton Price of coal has generally increased in the

past decade

Cost to Make, to Customer

Chris Tracy

China is the country that uses the most coal The U.S. is a close second place China=1,310,000,000 short tons U.S.=1,060,000,000 short tons These two countries use around 3 ½ times

as much coal as the third place country, India

Who Uses the Most Coal?

Chris Tracy

Ideal location

• Coal is located in many places around the U.S. but none is to be found in the state of Minnesota, the nearest reserves are located in Iowa, Illinois and North Dakota.

Ben Lanning

Environmental Effects

• Largest contributor to manmade CO2

emissions• Releases ash and other waste products• Contributes to global climate change

Chris Roos

Pros and Cons

• Pros: Plentiful Resource, U.S. owns 25 percent of the worlds known coal reserves. Inexpensive compared to other energy sources. Versatile, it can be turned into a liquid or gas forms which burn cleaner than the solid form.

• Cons: Pollution from coal is widespread, leads to acid rain. Can be a health hazard to those living near the plants that process it. It is also a non-renewable resource and so we have access to a finite amount of it.

Ben Lanning

Works Cited

“Coal.” 3 April 2012 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal>

“Coal.” 2 April 2012 <http://205.254.135.7/coal/>