1. By Madison, Haley, Liza, and Maggie

2. History of Coal Coal has been used for heating since 100-200 AD when the Romans occupied England In the 1700s the English found it burned clearer and hotter than wood or charcoal Commercial coal mines began operation in the 1740s in Virginia The industrial revolution played a major role in expanding the use of coal In the 1800s coal was first used to generate electricity for homes and factories

3. Physics of Coal In a thermal coal power station, the coal is burned in a furnace, producing heat, which then in turn makes chemical energy into heat energy The heat from the burning makes the water in the boiler turn to steam The steam then rotates the turbine, turning the heat into kinetic energy The turning turbine drives the generator, which converts the kinetic energy into electrical energy, producing electricity

4. Production of Coal Southern California Production Production has dropped 50% with the closure of seven petroleum coke plants in 2012 California energy consumption estimate for coal is 55.3 trillion BTU National Production In 2011, the US coal mines produced 1,094.3 mil. short tons Coal is mined in 25 states, Wyoming mines the most The US holds the worlds largest estimated recoverable reserves of coal The US is a net exporter of coal In 2012, the US produced more than 1 billion short tons of coal Coal was used for 37% of the 4 trillion kilowatt hours of electricity generated in the US Global Production 41% of energy that is globally produced is produced from coal It is also used in 70% of the worlds steel production

5. Other Questions How does coal effect the earths climate? Coal produces great amounts of pollution, like green house gases, which further contribute to global warming What is the fuel mass to energy output? 24 MJ/KG or 24 Mil J/kg What are the shortcomings of coal and what are some solutions? Burning coal produces harmful emissions, to health and the environment Coal is not a renewable resource and takes time to be recreated by the earth Solutions: Technology that allows for coal burning power plants to reduce NOx and mercury emissions with no upfront capital investment M-45 and M-45-PC technology is used to enhance combustion of and reduce emissions in cyclone boilers, circulating fluidized boilers and pulverized coal boilers

6. Bibliography http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=3350 http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/standard/physics/energy_ matters/generation_of_electricity/revision/1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/standard/physics/energy_ matters/generation_of_electricity/revision/1 http://www.china.org.cn/business/2009- 08/24/content_18387250.htm http://www.china.org.cn/business/2009- 08/24/content_18387250.htm http://www.picsauditing.com/blog/category/blog/page/36/ http://energyalmanac.ca.gov/electricity/total_system_po wer.html http://energyalmanac.ca.gov/electricity/total_system_po wer.html http://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=Ca http://worldcoal.org/resources/coal-statistics/ http://library.thinkquest.org/6075/coal.html http://hypertextbook.com