The Real Price of Coal: Why It’s Time to Move On

Coal has long been the first energy choice of many countries due to its cheap price, wide availability, and concentrated energy content. However, coal has generated many problems – environmental and social – as an energy source.

The combustion of coal to generate electricity releases gases such as carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. While carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and would enhance the greenhouse effect once released into the atmosphere, accelerating global climate change, sulfur dioxide can further cause acid deposition, photochemical smog, and many more air quality issues.

Air quality issues may just sound like more particles in the air, yet there are real consequences to them. On top of damaging respiratory systems and harming public health, events such as acid deposition can also alter the pH of natural ecosystems and cause pond ecosystems to degrade due to rapid changes in pH.

Luckily, there has already been progress on alternative sources of energy to replace coal. Moreover, there has also been technology such as the catalytic converter that works to reduce emission of these gases on the point where coal is combusted. For example, these catalytic converters can be attached to the pipes of cars and factories in order to reduce the emissions made on the spot.