Coal is mainly used for electricity, but there are other ways to generate electricity including natural gas, hydro and nuclear power. Coal is dying though. How can this be? Why is this happening? Furthermore, why is it not coming back as an economic force in the United States?
What is coal exactly? “Coal is a fossil fuel and is the altered remains of prehistoric vegetation that originally accumulated in swamps and peat bogs. The energy we get from coal today comes from the energy that plants absorbed from the sun millions of years ago” (World Coal Association). Basically, when plants die, their energy gets trapped because their “decaying process is interrupted, preventing the release of the stored solar energy,” and that’s where the energy gets locked in the coal (World Coal Association).
Natural gas is more common now and coal is slowing dying. Coal related jobs have dropped according to CBS news: “…U.S. coal employment, 126,000 in 1940, now is 53,000 and dropping” (Light). The United States is becoming more aware of natural gas and its better usage of it, so people get jobs in that industry rather than in coal. It’s how the job market works. Why go into an industry that isn’t growing and you know is decreasing?
Just why is coal becoming obsolete in the industry? It’s almost a lifeless industry to get into at this day in age. Mostly due to the fact of climate change. Yes, that is a thing. “Coal companies face economic hardships, dwindling market shares and increasing regulations,” which can make working in the industry complicated (Lohan). No one wants to deal with debt and the already lasting effects of it and the climate change issues it’s brining on the earth.
Not only is it causing economic troubles, but it’s also running out. Surely not within my lifetime. “The Energy Information Administration says that “estimated recoverable coal reserves” gives us about 200 years’ worth of coal” (Lohan). It certain places of extracting coal, they say they only have about 20 years. Some 40 years. It’s only a matter of time.
The coal industry is going dead and won’t be making a comeback. James Van Nostrand, who is the director of the Center for Energy and Sustainable Development at West Virginia University College of Law says that “coal jobs aren’t coming back, due to market forces, not due to regulation” and that “Natural gas is cheaper and more plentiful” (Light). Besides, people want natural gas more than they want coal.
Natural gas vs. Coal… natural gas is surely to win because it “is the cleanest burning fossil fuel” and is “rapidly increasing in electric power generation and cooling” (American Gas Association). It is also a leading job industry. “The natural gas industry currently employs nearly 3 million Americans- and provides a huge economic boost to the American economy” (NatrualGas). So, not only is it of better use, but it is also houses many jobs. All in all, natural gas is coming alive and coal is burning itself obsolete.
References
Light, L. (2017, March 15). Why natural gas is the future — not coal. Retrieved May 11, 2017, from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/natural-gas-coal-future/
Lohan, T. (2014, April 14). King Coal Is Dying a Slow Death in America. Retrieved May 11, 2017, from http://www.resilience.org/stories/2014-04-14/king-coal-is-dying-a-slow-death-in-america/
NaturalGas.org. (2013, September 20). Retrieved May 11, 2017, from http://naturalgas.org/jobs/
What is coal? (n.d.). Retrieved May 11, 2017, from https://www.worldcoal.org/coal/what-coal
What Is Natural Gas? (n.d.). Retrieved May 11, 2017, from https://www.aga.org/what-natural-gas
