Coal MiningAnne Sloter, Maia Palma, Edis

Cehic, Marissa Henze

Historical ContextO In 1701, coal was found by Huguenot settlers O 1736, several “coal mines” showed up on several mapsO The first coal “miners” in the American colonies were likely

farmers who sold it by the bushel.O First commercial coal production began from mines around

Richmond, Virginia in 1748O By the late 1700s, coal was being mined on Mount

WashingtonO In 1814, coal was burned to heat salt brines to provide a

source of salt in southwestern Pennsylvania. O The first major boon for coal use occurred in 1830 when the

Tom Thumb was manufactured.O 1820 First commercial mine, known as the "McLean drift

bank" opened in Kentucky,O To meet the increasing demand for coal, the steam shovel

was invented in 1839O In 1848, the first coal miners' union was formed

Historical Context Cont.O The rise of iron and steel, coal production increased

by 300 percent during the 1870s and early 1880s.O By the early 1900s, coal was supplying more than

100,000 coke ovens.O In 1882 Edison built the first practical coal-fired

electric generating stationO In 1901, General Electric Company built the first

alternating current power plant at Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania.

O By 1961, coal had become the major fuel used by electricity utilities to generate electricity, and a new era for coal began taking shape. U.S.

O coal production nearly doubled, increasing from 520 million tons in 1970 to one billion tons for the first time in 1990 and to nearly 1.1 billion tons currently

Geographical ContextO Proven Coal deposits exist on every continent in

the world, including Antarctica.O The U.S. has the world’s largest supply of

recoverable coal reserves. This accounts for 24% of the world’s coal.

O Coal is found is found in 38 states in the U.S.O Nearly 1/8 of the country sits over coal beds.O Top coal mining states include: Montana, Illinois,

Wyoming, West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Colorado, Texas, and Indiana.

O The world’s leading coal mining countries include: China, India, Australia, Germany, Russia, and Indonesia.

Major Players: CoalO Top 10 Hard Coal Producers (2009)

• PR China 297 Mt• USA 919 Mt• India 526 Mt• Indonesia 263 Mt• South Africa 247 Mt• Russia 229 Mt• Kazakhstan 96 Mt• Poland 78 Mt• Colombia 73 Mt

Major Players: Coal

O http://www-958.ibm.com/software/data/cognos/manyeyes/visualizations/top-10-world-consumers-of-coal-in-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2TyMqwftJE

Sources of Conflict- The Danger of Coal Mining:O Miners often lack data on the current underground

conditions. This would include the levels of methane and carbon monoxide, as well as the location of other miners.

O Miners in low light often injure themselves by walking into unseen hazards or patches of weak rock.

O Coal mining naturally causes the production of combustible materials such as coal dust and methane. Operators often fail to pick up the loose coal and flush out the trapped gas.

O Coal’s Effect on the Environment:O Burning coal emits dangerous gases such as carbon

dioxide, arsenic, ash, and sulpheric acids.O When producing heat, burning coal produces twice the

amount of carbon dioxide when compared to natural gas. The emissions from burning fossil fuels, such as coal, now accounts for 65% of the extra carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Sources of Conflict Cont.

O The burning of coal by large-scale factories to produce power, has led to problems with acid rain.

O The retrieval of coal scars the landscape, while the large, noisy equipment may affect the wildlife in the area.

O The transportation of coal can cause problems, as it takes an extensive transportation system to move the coal. The vehicles required to move the coal also add to the pollution factor, due to the emissions from the trucks.

O Mining for coal can cause serious health difficulties that are related to the excessive amounts coal dusts in the lungs of miners. This has been known to cause lung scarring, lung cancer, and pneuconiosis, or “ black lung disease”.

O Coal mining also carries the great risk of underground coal fires.

Impact on U.S.O The U.S. has the world’s largest coal

reserve.O 90% of U.S. mined coal is used for

electricity.O Modern technologies have decreased

the mining workforce from 335,000 to 104,824 in the past 50 years.

O More than 100,000 miners have been killed over the past century due to accidents.

SolutionsO Better Equipment

• New wireless systems can track where miners go in the mine while testing toxic gas levels.

• New lamps on helmets with 12-volt LED light surrounded by a circle of lower beam lights gives miners better depth and a wider range of light.

• Ventstop system can redirect airflow and blocks openings to control fumes, smoke and atmosphere.

O Environmental• New technologies have found ways to capture

methane gas from coal mines and use it to produce energy.

• This makes coal mines safer for the miners by removing methane fumes.

ResourcesO http://

www-958.ibm.com/software/data/cognos/manyeyes/visualizations/top-10-world-consumers-of-coal-in

O http://www.netl.doe.gov/KeyIssues/historyofcoaluse.htmlO http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/coal-oil-gas/3-coal-mini

ng-safety-problems-and-how-to-fix-themO http://fossil-fuel.co.uk/coal/the-disadvantages-of-coalO http://www.teachcoal.org/aboutcoal/articles/faqs.htmlO http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CoalO http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_g4jfQ9COILQ/R0maKli2HmI/AAAAAAAACuw/x0h

pKGnL5LA/s400/underground%2Bcoal%2Bfire.jpgO http://www.lungcancerfact.com/lung-cancer-causes/coal-dust/O http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://thisisprobablyaninterestingbl

og.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/gatesofhellturkmenistan.jpg%3Fw%3D470%26h%3D313&imgrefurl=http://thisisprobablyaninterestingblog.com/2009/06/&usg=__ATPXMPfdNePOjy6CoD7CMWqMUvI=&h=313&w=470&sz=25&hl=en&start=13&zoom=0&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=frVmA2zAIohX_M:&tbnh=86&tbnw=129&prev=/images%3Fq%3DUnderground%2Bcoal%2Bfires%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dstrict%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us%26tbm%3Disch&ei=60abTZPMLYnItAb5kKWABg

Resources Cont.O http://www.robsright.com/2009/12/O http://

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_mining_in_the_United_States

O http://www.carrollengineeringco.com/products/monitoring.php

O http://www.adb.org/documents/feature-stories/2010/prc-methane-pollution-solution.asp