Question

Technology has changed many things about the way that the world lives, works, produces things, and runs. The energy industry has been significantly impacted by the development of renewable energy harnessing. For this discussion, analyze 2 of the attached articles, and provide a logical discussion about the coal industry and how it is being replaced due to technology.

Unit 5 Coal Losses Offset Elsewhere Article.pdf

Unit 5 2017 US Energy and Jobs Report_0.pdf

Unit 5 2017 US Energy and Jobs Report State Charts 2_0.pdf

Support your discussion with data from the article and from other sources if you would like. Analyze the impact of renewable technology on the economy, the collective issues that are impacted by these new technologies, and the global renewable energy revolution. Provide at least 2 resources in APA format.

Answer 1

Discussion includes mining of coal in Wyoming district in USA. There are various forms of coal like peat. lignite, bituminous, anthracite varieties which depend upon the composition of minerals. The increase in pressure and heat inside the earth leads to the formation of coal which is used for cooking and heating purposes. It is composed of carbon in varying amounts. It is due to the burning of fossil fuels. Burning of methane produces carbon-dioxide and water. There are various factors on which the texture of coal depends like color, luster, hardness, cleavage. It can be used for producing electricity.

It is being replaced by other renewable energy resources because coal contains a large amount of sulfur which forms sulfur dioxide leading to the formation of acid rain and polluting the environment. There are various environmental agency protection acts. In 1970, Congress passed the clean air act to keep the environment clean and reduce the emissions of sulfur dioxide obtained after burning coal in air. The areas in various parts of USA have been surface mined leading to production of million tonnes of coal for electricity generation.

US energy and job reports prove that there are various forms of coal present in different regions. These include anthracite, semianthracite,bituminous, semibituminous and lignite. In 1986 clean coal technology act was passed, in 1996, energy policy act was passed, in 2005 energy policy act was passed. Clean power plan will reduce the carbon emissions by 30% since 2005.USA is exporting coal to various other countries of the world like China, Japan, South Korea and India. In 2011, 4.2% goal was tranported to India from USA.Powder river Basin in USA produced 382 million short tonnes in 2014. The largest coal mine in Wyoming is called as Black thunder. Anthracite coal produces about 220 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide upon burning per British thermal Unit of energy.Lignite and subbituminous produce about 200 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.

References-

1) UNIT 5: WYOMING’S COAL The past and future of Powder River Basin.
2)Power generation from coal-https://www.iea.org/ciab/papers/power_generation_from_coal.pdf

3)Center for energy energy economics and public policy- The Impact of the Coal Economy on Wyoming Prepared for: Wyoming Infrastructure Authority February 2015 Robert Godby Roger Coupal David Taylor Tim Considine Center for Energy Economics and Public Policy Department of Economics and Finance University of Wyoming Laramie, Wyoming-https://www.uwyo.edu/cee/_files/docs/wia_coal_full-report.pdf.