Our global addiction to coal is killing us and irreparably

damaging our planet. Each year, hundreds of

thousands of people die due to coal pollution. Millions

more around the world suffer from asthma attacks, heart

attacks, hospitalizations and lost workdays.1 Those who

resist coal are faced with violence and repression.

Up to 1200 new coal-fired power plants are planned

around the world. If all of these plants were built, it would

lock in decades of hazardous emissions into our air and

water and would continue coal’s heavy toll on human

health. On top of that, the greenhouse gas emissions

from these plants would put us a path of catastrophic

climate change, causing global temperatures to rise by

over 5 degrees Celsius by 2100.2

A burgeoning global movement is pressuring

governments and institutions to take action to end our

reliance on coal. In the European Union, 109 proposed

coal-fired power plants have been defeated. Last year,

the Chinese government banned the construction

permitting of new coal plants in the three key economic

regions surrounding the cities of Beijing, Shanghai and

Guangzhou, housing 30% of China’s current coal-fired

power generation capacity. US groups have defeated 179

new coal-fired power plants, and more than 165 existing

plants are slated for retirement.

International financial institutions, such as the World Bank,

the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

and the European Investment Bank, have adopted policies

restricting or eliminating support for coal plants. The

US and several European countries have also enacted

bans on financing coal overseas except in limited

circumstances.

While the movement to stop coal is growing, the coal

industry is relentless in its push to mine and burn more

coal. We must join together to put an end to coal.

COAL FACTSHEET #1

THE DIRTY FACTS ABOUT COAL Impacts of Coal on Health & the Environment

Coal in PerspectiveCoal’s share of world energy generation: 41%

Coal’s share of energy-related CO2 emissions: 72%

Percentage of fossil fuel reserves that must be left in

the ground to avoid catastrophic

climate change: 72%

Global coal production (2012): 7,830 million tonnes

Projected growth in demand through 2018: 2.3

Top

Exporters:

Indonesia,

Australia,

Russia, USA

Top

importers:

China, Japan,

India, South

Korea

Top

Consumers:

China, USA,

India, Japan,

Russia, South

Africa

1. MININGLarge tracts of forest and other productive lands are

often cleared and communities are displaced for coal

mines. To expose coal seams, water may be pumped

out of the ground, lowering the water table and reducing

the amount of water available for agriculture, domestic

use and wildlife. Excavated rock is piled up in enormous

waste dumps adjacent to the mines. Heavy metals and

minerals trapped in the waste rock are mobilised once

exposed to air and water and can contaminate surface

and groundwater.

Communities that live near mines

suffer from air and water pollution.

They face reduced life expectancies

and increased rates of lung cancer

and heart, respiratory and kidney

disease. Pregnant women have a

higher risk of having children of

low birth weight. Miners face great

physical risk due to accidents,

explosions and mine collapses. In

China, roughly 4000-6000 workers

die from underground mining

accidents each year.3 Miners are also

directly exposed to toxic fumes, coal

dust and toxic metals, increasing

their risk for fatal lung diseases such

as pneumoconiosis and silicosis.

2. PREPARATION/WASHINGAfter coal is mined, it is often prepared for combustion in

coal preparation plants. Coal is usually crushed, washed

with water and other chemicals to reduce impurities

such as clay, sulfur and heavy metals, and dried. Some

chemicals used to “wash” coal are known carcinogens;

others are linked to lung and heart damage. The resulting

wastewater, known as coal slurry, is typically stored in

slurry ponds, which can leak and contaminate surface

and groundwater.

3. TRANSPORTThe transport of coal by train, truck, ship or barge is often

overlooked as a potential health threat to communities

living along transport corridors. Coal trains, trucks and

barges emit coal dust, sometimes at intense levels,

increasing the rate of respiratory and cardiovascular

diseases.4 Before and after transport, coal is often

stockpiled, releasing more coal dust. Residents living

near the world’s largest coal port in Newcastle, Australia

suffer from particulate emissions that regularly cause air

pollution exceeding national health standards. Exposure

to fine particulates increases the risk of premature death,

heart attacks and asthma attacks.

4. COMBUSTION

Coal is the deadliest electricity source on the planet,

killing up to 280,000 people per 1000 terawatt hours of

electricity generated.5 By contrast,

wind kills 150 people and rooftop

solar 440 people per 1000 terawatt

hours. The burning of coal emits

hazardous air pollutants that can

spread for hundreds of kilometres.

Pollutants include particulate matter,

sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides,

carbon dioxide, mercury and arsenic.6

Some of these pollutants react in the

atmosphere to form ozone and more

fine particulates. Exposure to these

pollutants can damage people’s

cardiovascular, respiratory and

nervous systems, increasing the risk

of lung cancer, stroke, heart disease,

chronic respiratory diseases and

lethal respiratory infections. Children,

the elderly, pregnant women, and people with already

compromised health suffer most. The emission of sulfates

and nitrates also leads to acid rain, which damages

streams, forests, crops and soils.

Fine particulate matter pollution is the greatest

environmental health risk globally, and a leading

environmental cause of cancer.7 Particle pollution was

responsible for an estimated 3 million premature deaths

in 2010. Coal-fired power plants are one of the largest

sources of each of the key pollutants contributing to fine

particle pollution globally.

Coal plants consume vast amounts of water for cooling

and steam production. A typical 1000 MW coal plant uses

enough water in one year to meet the basic water needs

of 500,000 people. Massive coal expansion is planned

in China, India and Russia where 63% of the population

already suffer from water scarcity.8

Impacts of the Coal Life Cycle

Globally, over

350,000 people

die prematurely

each year due to

air pollution from

coal-fired power

plants and millions

more suffer

serious illnesses.

At each stage of its life cycle, coal pollutes the air we breathe, the water we drink and

the land that we depend on. This section briefly describes the impacts of coal mining,

preparation, transport and combustion.

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E N D C O A L | 3

ASH LANDFILL

ASHLANDF

1. MINING

2. PREPARATION

3. TRANSPORT 4. COMBUSTIONCoal dust increases heart and lung disease.

Water withdrawals for cooling systems can cause water scarcity and kill aquatic life.

Leaching of heavy metals and other toxics pollute water and increase rates of cancer, birth defects and neurological damage. Spills harm humans and ecosystems.

Thermal water releases kill aquatic life.

Heavy metals and other toxics contaminate water. Rivers and streams are polluted, harming communities and wildlife. Coal washing consumes fresh water.

Destroys forests, uproots communities.

Leaching of heavy metals and other toxics contaminates water, harming communities and wildlife. Coal washing consumes fresh water.

Mountaintop removal, surface and underground

Air pollution damages heart, lungs and nervous systems.

CO2 causes global warming. Pollutants include nitrogen

oxides, sulfur dioxide, particulates, ozone, heavy

metals and carbon dioxide.

To end our dependence on coal, it is critical to invest in

clean and sustainable energy options. The first step is to

reduce our overall demand for energy and to implement

energy efficiency measures. The International Energy

Agency recommends that countries target reducing

energy use from new space and water heating; installing

more efficient lighting and new appliances; improving the

efficiency of new industrial motors; and setting standards

for new road vehicles.9

Renewable energy, which generates little or no pollution

and greenhouse gases, has become increasingly

competitive with conventional energy sources. The

increase in economic competitiveness is paving the

way for greater adoption. Since 2008, the price of solar

panels has dropped by 75%.10 According to Deutsche

Bank, 19 regional markets worldwide have now achieved

“grid parity,” where PV solar panels can match or beat

local electricity prices without subsidies. This includes

Chile, Australia and Germany for residential power and

Mexico and China for industrial markets.11

Some experts predict that fossil fuel use will peak by

2030 because fossil fuels will be unable to compete with

renewables economically.12 While the cost of fossil fuels will

continue to rise in a carbon-constrained world, the costs of

renewables will continue to decline. A Harvard University

study estimated that the external costs of the coal life cycle

in the US are between a third to a half a trillion dollars

annually. If the full costs of coal were reflected in coal’s

price, it would double or triple the price of electricity from

coal. This would end coal generation more rapidly.

Rather than locking in a dependency on dirty coal for

generations to come, governments and utilities should

invest in clean, renewable energy.

Coal combustion generates waste contaminated with

toxic chemicals and heavy metals, such as arsenic,

cadmium, selenium, lead and mercury. Coal combustion

waste may be stored in waste ponds or landfills,

which are often unlined. Contaminants may leach into

ground and surface water that people depend on for

drinking. This can increase rates of cancer, birth defects,

reproductive problems and neurological damage. Power

plants dump more toxins into rivers and streams than

any other industry in the United States, and toxic waste

from power plants is the second largest source of waste

in the US, behind municipal waste. In February 2014,

over 140,000 tons of coal ash and wastewater from a

retired coal plant spilled into the Dan River in North

Carolina, blackening the waters with a toxic sludge and

contaminating drinking water supplies.

While air pollution control equipment reduces emissions

of toxins to the atmosphere, it transfers the toxins to solid

or liquid waste streams. This ash is stored in waste ponds

or landfills which leach sulfur dioxide and heavy metals

into surface and groundwater.

Coal combustion is the single largest source of

greenhouse gas emissions worldwide and accounts for

72% of greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity

sector. This is warming our planet with devastating

impacts to human health and the environment. The coal

industry proposes that it can build power stations that

will capture carbon dioxide and store it underground.

However, the technological and economic viability of

carbon capture and storage is unproven and is unlikely to

be viable for decades to come, if ever.

ENDNOTES1 Erica Burt, Peter Orris, Susan Buchanan, “Scientific Evidence of Health Effects from Coal Use in

Energy Generation”, University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, 2013, p.52 If all the proposed coal-fired power plants were built by 2025, the net increase in coal-fired

generation capacity would exceed the increase in the Current Policies Scenario in the IEA World Energy Outlook 2012, which is estimated by the IEA to be consistent with median long-term temperature increase of 5.3oC by 2100.

3 Paul R. Epstein, Jonathan J. Buonocore, Kevin Eckerle, et al. 2011. “Full cost accounting for the life cycle of coal,” Volume 1219: Ecological Economics Reviews, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1219: 73–98.

4 Ibid, p. 84.5 http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2012/06/10/energys-deathprint-a-price-always-paid/6 Burt, Orris, and Buchanan, ibid, p.3.7 International Agency for Research on Cancer, 17 October 2013, http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-

centre/iarcnews/pdf/pr221_E.pdf8 “The Unquenchable Thirst of an Expanding Coal Industry,” The Guardian, April 1, 2014.9 “Redrawing the Energy-Climate Map,” World Energy Outlook Special Report, International

Energy Agency, June 10, 2013, p. 47.10 Morgan Bazilian, Ijeoma Onyeji, Michael Liebreich et al. “Reconsidering the Economics of

Photovoltaic Power,” Bloomberg New Energy Finance, May 2012, p.5.11 “Global solar dominance in sight as science trumps fossil fuels,” The Telegraph, April 25, 2014.12 “‘Peak Fossil Fuels’ Is Closer Than You Think: BNEF,” Bloomberg, April 24, 2013.

Investing in Clean Energy

4 | C O A L F A C T S H E E T # 1

RESOURCES

Coal Activist Resource Centre: endcoal.org

Greenpeace International: greenpeace.org/coal

Sierra Club: sierraclub.org/coal

Union of Concerned Scientists: ucsusa.org/clean_energy/

International Renewable Energy Agency: irena.org

ENDCOAL.ORG