ipl-logo

Compare And Contrast Coal And Natural Gas

776 Words4 Pages

Coal and natural gas are two crucial energy sources that the United States relies on to meet its needs. Coal accounts for 21% of energy production and natural gas for 32%. Yet the production and development of these sources of energy has a major impact on both the natural world and the health of people. This paper will contrast coal and natural gas in terms of their benefits downsides cost of electricity production ecological effects and affects on human health. The costs and benefits of the two sources of energy will also be compared in this paper to determine which option is more beneficial overall.

The advantages of using coal as a source of energy are:

● cheap to make energy with it due to it being abundant and readily available in …show more content…

Coal has a huge negative influence on the environment including:

● emissions of carbon dioxide sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides that cause air pollution
● dumping of garbage and mining for coal both cause water contamination
● Mining activities cause habitat damage and land disruption

Coal's detrimental effects on human health include the following:

● lung cancer as well as other lung diseases are brought on by air pollution
● Due to exposure to hazardous compounds from coal mining and combustion there is a higher risk of heart disease neurological diseases and congenital abnormalities
● Working with or around coal for production can be very hazardous

Now how does natural gas compare?
The advantages of using natural gas as a source of energy …show more content…

Natural gas has an effect on the environment which includes:

● air pollution brought on by combustion's carbon dioxide and other pollutants.
● Leaks of methane that occur during extraction and transportation that cause climate change.

Natural gas has a detrimental effect on human health which includes:

● lung cancer and other respiratory illnesses are brought on by air pollution.
● risks of hydraulic fracturing like as earthquakes and contaminated water.

The following is my cost-benefit analysis of coal and natural gas:

● compared to natural gas which costs 6.58 cents per kilowatt-hour to produce electricity coal is a more affordable energy source at 10.69 cents per kilowatt-hour
● natural gas however has less of an adverse effect on the environment and human health than coal
● natural gas produces fewer greenhouse gasses than coal making it environmentally friendly energy source
● Compared to coal natural gas has lower mining and combustion

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Hope It's In Your Backyard By Neil Demause

    810 Words  | 4 Pages

    Fracking the Good and The Bad In the essay, “Hope It’s in Your Backyard,” by Neil deMause, he wrote about the positive and negative factors of fracking and its effect on the world. The ramifications of fracking could be devastating to the earth with regards to natural gas and oil. It is debated that fracking, in the United States, would stimulate economic growth, lower gas prices, create more jobs, and make our country independent for oil and natural gas. The effects of burning fossil fuels is negative to the earth’s climate and the cause of some pollution. Natural gas is cheaper, but its effect on our ecosystem may be devastating.

    Read More

  • Hydraulic Fracking Report

    2027 Words  | 9 Pages

    According to the EarthWorks government site there are some seriously negative health effects that come with fracking. This is due to all the chemicals used to make the fracking fluid and how they can make their way into contact with humans. These chemicals can be ingested in water, contact with skin, or even be respired by way of vapor. These chemicals can lead to health hazards in almost every area imaginable such as EarthWorks cited Natural Gas Operations from a Public Health Perspective by Theo Colborn where he broke these hazards into the 12 categories seen here: “skin, eye and sensory organ, respiratory, gastrointestinal and liver, brain and nervous system, immune, kidney, cardiovascular and blood, cancer, mutagenic, endocrine disruption, other, and ecological…”. There are 71 chemicals used in fracking that are known to cause 10 or more health effects individually.

    Read More

  • Hazard Identification Nvq

    859 Words  | 4 Pages

    1) The leakage of the natural gas The primary component of natural gas is methane which is non-toxic, however the

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Natural Gas Fracking Addresses All Of Our Major Problems

    1603 Words  | 7 Pages

    Another benefit from switching to clean-burning natural gas is a decrease in pollutants in the air, which will decrease airborne illnesses and premature deaths. He discusses the impact of energy independence for countries that rely on insecure regions for their energy needs. For example, the U.S. will rely less on the Middle East, Europe will rely less on Russia and India will rely less on Iran. By presenting fracking as the answer to the world’s problems, Pierce counters the arguments of critics who cite the environmental problems of fracking. His paper is one-sided because he leaves out the other side of the debate by ignoring any negative aspects of fracking.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Fracking

    2076 Words  | 9 Pages

    The air quality improves by using natural gas to generate electricity instead of coal. The use of natural gas reduces carbon dioxide emissions causing a decrease in air pollution. Some argue that since fracking allows us to obtain more oil, our dependency on foreign oil will decrease. Since our dependency should decrease other foreign countries will lower their tax rates. They will lower taxes because they know we are not dependent of them and their oil.

    Read More

  • Fracking Is Still Harmful To The Environment

    49 Words  | 1 Pages

    1. Even though fracking reduces carbon emissions, it is still harmful to the environment. For example: water pollution/contamination. There can be accidental seeping of the chemicals (possibly carcinogenic) and can contaminate groundwater around the site due to bad practice (this imposes harm to both the ecosystem and people 's health).

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Hydraulic Fracking

    731 Words  | 3 Pages

    Natural Gas and Fracking:Economic Realities of Alternative Natural gas is a cornerstone of the US economy,providing a quarter of the country’s total energy. However the negative externality is heavy . The increase of energy production brings us environment pollution and economic problems. All these are related to Hydraulic Fracking. Since Hydraulic Fracking was used as a new technique of energy exploitation in 1947, it has eventually accounted for nearly 70% of natural gas development in North America.

    Read More

  • Effects Of Fracking

    499 Words  | 2 Pages

    Air Impacts Fracking effects on human health: Fracking releases a gas known as carcinogens. This type of gas is harmful to

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Fracking

    519 Words  | 3 Pages

    First, one of the main issue in fracking is how it effects the air pollution. These natural gases can produce harmful fumes in the air and have had early deaths of thousands of people each year. This can be considered health hazards to humans but is still to be unknown. Fracking is the burning of coal. Fracking can pollute the air hundred miles away with little to no fracking and greenhouse gas is used to reduce the reliance of coal.

    Read More

  • Fracking: Harmful To The Environment

    181 Words  | 1 Pages

    (Fracking and Poverty) Furthermore, “The gas industry has chosen to voluntarily tell what additives are used at each well site through the Frack Focus database” (“EIA Kids Natural Gas Basics”) So there are some disadvantages, but the advantages of fracking are more

    Read More

  • Oil Fracking In Texas

    721 Words  | 3 Pages

    By fracking for natural gas and shifting from coal to natural gas power generation plants, we could benefit economically, save our environment, and save millions of gallons of

    Read More

  • Thesis Statement For Fracking Essay

    340 Words  | 2 Pages

    I am really neutral on the issue. I know there are benefits to fracking for natural gas. It is better for the climate than fossil fuels, and it is cheaper. What I do not know is the extent of the damages it can potentially cause. It is a relatively new practice, and enough time has not passed to cause justification or condemnation.

    Read More

  • The Necessity of Fracking: A Discussion of its Benefits

    835 Words  | 4 Pages

    Source 1 states, “Shale gas emits half the carbon dioxide per unit of energy as does coal, and coal burning also emits metals such as mercury into the atmosphere that eventually settle back into our soils and waters.”. Fracking does less damage to the atmosphere than coal mining but yet people are trying to put an end to fracking. If America is powers their homes, cars, etc. through natural gases, coal mining will no longer be necessary and America can slow down global warming a little bit more. People who live near fracking sites are worried about the possibilities of water contamination due to the chemicals used to break apart the bedrock. Source 2 says, “Because fracking involves pumping... chemicals into the ground to

    Read More

  • Why Kentucky Should Use Hydroelectric Power

    882 Words  | 4 Pages

    Energy is a key factor in today's society, especially in Kentucky. Kentucky's main energy resource is coal, 91.8 percent of our energy comes from this resource but coal is nonrenewable, meaning that there is a limited amount of this type of fuel. Coal mining is also detrimental to the environment, people living and working in coal mining communities have a higher chance of getting lung cancer. with surface mining, this has been linked as a cause for poisoning local residences from the chemicals used in the mountaintop mining. there are still issues with the environment and natural wildlife in the surrounding areas of the coal mining as well.

    Read More

  • Fracking Persuasive Essay

    679 Words  | 3 Pages

    Using natural gas from fracking is a better and safer alternative than using coal because natural gas does not emit as much carbon dioxide into our atmosphere. The graphs presented on natfuel.com shows that the amount of carbon dioxide

    Read More

More about Compare And Contrast Coal And Natural Gas

Open Document