Coal Pros And Cons: The True Advantage Of Coal Energy – by Juan Ramos (Science Trends – December 30, 2017)

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Coal continues to be a popular energy source in many countries around the world. There are two main reasons for this: one is that there is plenty of coal still available and the second reason is that, at least among fossil fuels, it is the cheapest available.

Because other fossil fuels are not as plentiful as coal they also tend to be a lot more expensive by comparison. This is already one of the main advantages of using coal energy but there also plenty of others. Having said all that, there are also quite a few disadvantages to the use of coal energy.

Human beings have relied on coal energy for hundreds of years. Historians and archaeologists have found plenty of evidence to suggest that coal has been used as an energy source since the time of ancient civilizations. For example, it is well known that the Romans used it but also ancient Chinese civilizations.

The use of coal as an energy source, however, only became generalized, as we know it today, during the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries. The invention that was responsible for the increased use of coal energy was the steam engine. The steam engine was solely powered by coal energy. But apart from the steam engine, the increased use of coal was also due to new machines used in manufacturing.

Coal was not the only energy source that saw increased usage due to the Industrial Revolution. It would be more accurate to consider the increased use of coal as part of a more general increase use of fossil fuels. In fact, coal comes second to petroleum.

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