YOUR ASSIGNMENT

Your assignment this week is to talk about COAL煤 [méi]. There are SEVEN TOPICS (numbered topics) below. You should pick one person to give a speech from a part of each topic. As an option, you can assign TWO people to the “In The News” topic, and then one person to the “Clean Coal” topic.

1. Coal IN THE NEWS …

• Coal generates 54% of our electricity, and is the single biggest air polluter in the U.S.
• China's Boom Adds to Global Warming Problem
• Pollution From Chinese Coal Casts a Global Shadow
• Chinese Pollution Is An Increasing Threat
• Pollutants From China Are Already Showing Up In The U.S.
• 101 active coal mines in Alabama

1. U.S. And China

• By-Products …
• Coal mining

1. A Brief History of Coal Use

2. The Clean Coal Technology Program

• How do you make coal cleaner?

• How do scrubbers work?

1. A "Bed" for Burning Coal?

• Why does a "fluidized bed boiler" burn coal cleaner?

1. The Cleanest Coal Technology - a Real Gas!

• Now, what do you do with the gas?

1. Methane Plants: China’s Clean Energy Alternative

READ THIS FIRST Click Here

The Coal ndustry in the News

One type of mining, called "longwall mining", uses a rotating blade to shear coal away from the underground seam.

The coal industry is touting a plan to transform millions of tons of coal into diesel fuel and other liquid fuels using an expensive, inefficient process that releases large quantities of global warming pollution. Producing liquid coal fuel generates twice as much heat-trapping carbon dioxide as producing ordinary gasoline. Even if the CO2 released by liquid coal plants is captured, the emissions would still be higher than the emissions from today's crude oil system.

In addition to nearly doubling global warming pollution, relying on synthetic liquid coal fuel would increase the harmful effects of coal mining on communities and ecosystems from Appalachia to the Rocky Mountains. Stepping up coal production to generate liquid fuels would mean stepping up strip-mining and mountaintop removal, which can destroy wildife habitats, aquifers and open space. Coal mining also produces hazardous and toxic wastes that can contaminate groundwater.www.nrdc.org/energy/dirtyfuels_coal.asp

Coal generates 54% of our electricity, and is the single biggest air polluter in the U.S.

http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/coalvswind/c01.html

Coal disaster December 22, 2008

The people of Harriman, Tenn., woke the morning of Dec. 23, 2008, to find their community awash in a billion gallons of toxic coal sludge. The waste -- enough to fill 1,600 Olympic-sized swimming pools -- poured from a storage pond that had collapsed the night before at a coal-fired power plant operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority.

http://www.nrdc.org/energy/coal/coalashslideshow.asp

China's Boom Adds to Global Warming Problem

Zhanjiang, China — China's rapid economic growth is producing a surge in emissions of greenhouse gases that threatens international efforts to curb global warming, as Chinese power plants burn ever more coal while car sales soar.

Pollution From Chinese Coal Casts a Global Shadow

HANJING, China — One of China's lesser-known exports is a dangerous brew of soot, toxic chemicals and climate-changing gases from the smokestacks of coal-burning power plants.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/business/worldbusiness/11chinacoal.html?ex=1307678400en=e9ac1f6255a24fd8ei=5088partner=rssnytemc=rss&pagewanted=all

Chinese Pollution Is An Increasing Threat

Pollutants From China Are Already Showing Up In The U.S.

www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/06/eveningnews/main2892005.shtml

U.S. And China

The Warrior Coal Basin lies underneath the majority of the Black Warrior River watershed. This basin has been the largest, southernmost coal-producing area in North America according to the Geological Survey of Alabama. Coal mines from the past have left a dirty legacy for our generation and future generations to clean up. These old coal mines were not properly reclaimed, resulting in hundreds of acid mine drainage (AMD) sites. AMD sites pollute streams with heavy metals, sediment, and acids. These sites can be spotted easily due to the prevalence of iron which causes the stream to appear neon orange. This coloration comes from ferrous oxide, an iron bacteria. AMD sites are very costly to clean up.

Currently there are around 101 active coal mines in Alabama -- 94 of these active mines are located in the Black Warrior River watershed. Strip mining (a.k.a. surface mining) and longwall mining (a.k.a. underground mining) are the methods of choice for coal extraction in Alabama. As a result, many Black Warrior streams are impaired by sediment laden with heavy metals. Coal mines transform the landscape and alter streams forever. In some instances streams are rendered biologically dead, unable to support life of any kind. http://blackwarriorriver.org/coal-mining.html

U.S. AND CHINA

Today, America burns 1.1 billion tons of coal annually, while China burns 1.5 billion tons. By 2025, the United States will consume 1.5 billion tons, but China will be burning 3.2 billion tons.

A look at China's history over the past 50 years, when global environmental concerns have increased, show that nation has done little or nothing protect its own environment from poisonous emissions into air and water that eventually flows around the earth.

Elizabeth C. Economy details China's catastrophic environmental policies since the 1949 communist takeover in her book, The River Runs Black. Economy, a senior fellow for the Council on Foreign Relations, writes:

* Sixteen of the world's 20 cities having the worst air pollution are in China.

* The number of cars, trucks and buses in China grew from 1.4 million to 25.7 million between 1978 and 2001. By 2050, China will have between 600 million and 800 million vehicles.

* Chinese-made vehicles spew out between 10 and 20 times more carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and hydrocarbons than cars made in Japan or America.

* Multinational companies relocate their most polluting factories to China to take advantage of weak environmental laws and enforcement.

* For centuries, the Huai River has flowed through fertile valleys into the Pacific Ocean near Shanghai. Today, the Huai is so polluted that people cannot drink its water or eat its fish. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/436314/coal_boom__chinas_pollution_vile/index.html?source=r_science

BY-PRODUCTS

Burning coal is a leading cause of smog, acid rain, global warming, and air toxics. In an average year, a typical coal plant generates:

• 3,700,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), the primary human cause of global warming--as much carbon dioxide as cutting down 161 million trees.
• 10,000 tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2), which causes acid rain that damages forests, lakes, and buildings, and forms small airborne particles that can penetrate deep into lungs.
• 500 tons of small airborne particles, which can cause chronic bronchitis, aggravated asthma, and premature death, as well as haze obstructing visibility.
• 10,200 tons of nitrogen oxide (NOx), as much as would be emitted by half a million late-model cars. NOx leads to formation of ozone (smog) which inflames the lungs, burning through lung tissue making people more susceptible to respiratory illness.
• 720 tons of carbon monoxide (CO), which causes headaches and place additional stress on people with heart disease.
• 220 tons of hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds (VOC), which form ozone.
• 170 pounds of mercury, where just 1/70th of a teaspoon deposited on a 25-acre lake can make the fish unsafe to eat.
• 225 pounds of arsenic, which will cause cancer in one out of 100 people who drink water containing 50 parts per billion.
• 114 pounds of lead, 4 pounds of cadmium, other toxic heavy metals, and trace amounts of uranium.