Dana's+Coal+Power+Argument

The use of electricity has been an essential part of the U.S. economy since the turn of the century. Coal power, an established electricity source that provides vast quantities of inexpensive, reliable power has become more important as supplies of oil and natural gases diminish. Coal is a big part of how we survive in this world and I will explain why it is such a coveted power source. My three main points are that coal is such an easy way to create power, it produces a lot of energy and why we should use coal when it is destroying our environment as we know it.

Coal is such an easy way to create power it simply takes a few steps. Firstly chunks of coal are crushed into a fine powder and fed into a combustion unit where it is burned. Heat from the burning coal is used to generate steam that is used to spin one or more turbines to generate electricity. The electricity then goes from the power station and travels to the substation where the voltage increases. The electricity then goes to the transmission lines where the high voltage electricity travels to another substation where the voltage is reduced. The power is then pushed through distribution lines which is then carried to your home or building. This is such an easy process to follow and so this is part of the reason why coal is so highly coveted.

Coal is known to produce a lot of the world’s power. For one thing there are about 600 coal power plants in the U.S. alone and in 1995 they produced 55% of the U.S.’s electricity. A typical (500 megawatt) coal power plant burns approximately 1.4 million tons of coal each year. Coal burning produces 54% of the world’s power in the present day. We all know that some things we do in life may help us, but may also destroy our lives. Well burning coal does that as it is the single biggest polluter in the U.S, the thing is we //can// prevent it. Scientists have created a device that can stop 99% of the emissions that are being created when being burned. If we have created such a device we should use it. This would prevent the destroying of our environment and further generations would be able to have the peace and enjoyment we have with it today.

Coal is such a big part of our lives and we should continue to use it because it has such an easy process to follow, it produces so much of our electricity and power and because there are ways to prevent it from destroying our environment as we know it. We have coal, we should use it. We can’t live without coal, but can we live with it?? You decide.