COAL ENERGY

Coal is a black combustible sedimentary rock composed of carbon and hydrocarbons.

Coal is a nonrenewable energy source because it takes millions of years to create. The energy in coal comes from the energy stored by plants that lived hundreds of millions of years ago, when the Earth was partly covered with swampy forests.

A high percentage of the coal consumed is used in the electric power sector. The remaining coal is used as a basic energy source in many industries including steel, cement, and paper. The major uses of coal are:

• For electric power

Power plants burn coal to make steam. The steam turns turbines (machines for generating rotary mechanical power) that generate electricity.

In addition to companies in the electric power sector, industries and businesses with their own power plants use coal to generate electricity.

• For industry

A variety of industries use coal's heat and by-products. Separated ingredients of coal (such as methanol) are used in making plastics, synthetic fibers, fertilizers, and medicines.

Coal is also used to make steel. Coal is baked in hot furnaces to make coke, which is used to smelt iron ore into iron needed for making steel. It is the very high temperatures created from the use of coke that gives steel the strength and flexibility for things like bridges, buildings, and automobiles.

The concrete and paper industries also use large amounts of coal.

If you need more information, click in the next link:

https://www.eia.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=coal_home-basics