252 PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY, ECONOMICS, AND POLITICS
9.2 Coal
Coal is a fossil fuel formed in swamp ecosystems where plant
remains were saved by water and mud from oxidation and biodégradation. Coal is also a combustible organic sedimentary rock, composed primarily of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, formed from
ancient vegetation and consolidated between other rock strata to
form coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be
regarded as organic metamorphic rocks because of a higher degree
of maturation.
Coal is composed primarily of carbon, along with assorted other
elements, including sulfur. It is the largest single source of fuel for
the generation of electricity worldwide, as well as the largest source
of carbon dioxide emissions, which have been implicated as the primary cause of global warming. Coal is extracted from the ground
by coal mining, either underground mining or open-pit mining
(surface mining).
A fossil energy source, coal can play a substantial role as a transitional energy source as one moves from the petroleum and natural
gas based economic system to the future economic system, based
on non-depletable or renewable energy systems (BP, 2008; Speight,
2008). It has been used as an energy source for thousands of years
and has many important uses, but most significantly in electricity
generation, steel and cement manufacture, and industrial process
heating.
Coal accounts for about 28% (hard coal 25%; soft brown coal 3%)
of global primary energy consumption, surpassed only by crude
oil (BGR, 2007). Developing countries use about 55% of the world's
coal today; this share is expected to grow to 65% over the next
15 years (Balat and Ayar, 2004). In year 2050, coal will account for
more than 34% of the world's primary energy demand.
In the developing world, the use of coal in the household for
heating and cooking, is important (Balat, 2007). For coal to remain
competitive with other sources of energy in the industrialized
countries of the world, continuing technological improvements in
all aspects of coal extraction have been necessary. Coal is often the
only alternative when low-cost, cleaner energy sources are inadequate to meet growing energy demand (Balat and Ayar, 2004).
Coal occurs in different forms or types due to variations in the
nature of the source material and local or regional the variations in the
coalification processes cause the vegetal matter to evolve differently.
9.2 Coal
Coal is a fossil fuel formed in swamp ecosystems where plant
remains were saved by water and mud from oxidation and biodégradation. Coal is also a combustible organic sedimentary rock, composed primarily of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, formed from
ancient vegetation and consolidated between other rock strata to
form coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be
regarded as organic metamorphic rocks because of a higher degree
of maturation.
Coal is composed primarily of carbon, along with assorted other
elements, including sulfur. It is the largest single source of fuel for
the generation of electricity worldwide, as well as the largest source
of carbon dioxide emissions, which have been implicated as the primary cause of global warming. Coal is extracted from the ground
by coal mining, either underground mining or open-pit mining
(surface mining).
A fossil energy source, coal can play a substantial role as a transitional energy source as one moves from the petroleum and natural
gas based economic system to the future economic system, based
on non-depletable or renewable energy systems (BP, 2008; Speight,
2008). It has been used as an energy source for thousands of years
and has many important uses, but most significantly in electricity
generation, steel and cement manufacture, and industrial process
heating.
Coal accounts for about 28% (hard coal 25%; soft brown coal 3%)
of global primary energy consumption, surpassed only by crude
oil (BGR, 2007). Developing countries use about 55% of the world's
coal today; this share is expected to grow to 65% over the next
15 years (Balat and Ayar, 2004). In year 2050, coal will account for
more than 34% of the world's primary energy demand.
In the developing world, the use of coal in the household for
heating and cooking, is important (Balat, 2007). For coal to remain
competitive with other sources of energy in the industrialized
countries of the world, continuing technological improvements in
all aspects of coal extraction have been necessary. Coal is often the
only alternative when low-cost, cleaner energy sources are inadequate to meet growing energy demand (Balat and Ayar, 2004).
Coal occurs in different forms or types due to variations in the
nature of the source material and local or regional the variations in the
coalification processes cause the vegetal matter to evolve differently.