Coal: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers energy sources, the formation of coal, various mining techniques, and the environmental impacts and regulations associated with coal use.

Fossil Fuels

Energy sources that provide approximately $80\%$ of modern society’s energy production in the United States.

Stationary Source

An energy source used for electricity or heat at a fixed location, such as coal, natural gas, or nuclear energy.

Mobile Source

An energy source primarily used for fueling vehicles, such as oil/petroleum or biomass.

EROEI

Energy Return on Energy Investment; a measure of net energy from an energy source calculated as units of energy gained per unit of energy expended.

Peat

A substance formed when vegetation dies and is submerged in oxygen-poor sediments, where decomposition is slowed tremendously.

Lignite

A soft variety of coal formed when pressure and heat are applied to peat over time.

Bituminous and Anthracite

Harder varieties of coal created from lignite in areas with high enough pressure and heat.

Coal Reserves

Places with substantial coal deposits that are retrievable with current technology.

North Antelope Rochelle coal mine

Located in Wyoming, this is the largest proven coal reserve mine in the world.

Surface Mining

A category of coal mining that includes methods like Mountaintop Removal and Strip Mining, used when coal is relatively close to the surface.

Strip Mining

A method used in level areas where the overburden is removed, the coal is harvested, and the strip is filled back in with the overburden.

Overburden

The layer of soil and rock that is removed to expose a coal seam during surface mining.

Mountaintop Removal (MTR)

A mining method used in Appalachia where explosives blast away parts of a mountain and the debris is dumped into nearby valleys.

Coal Sludge

The waste material left over from coal processing, often stored in ponds on the mining site.

Subsurface Mining

The method used to mine deep deposits of coal using shafts such as drift, shaft, and slope mines.

Drift Mine

A subsurface mine where a shaft is dug horizontally into a mountainside.

Shaft Mine

A subsurface mine reached by vertical shafts with elevators; the deepest WV mine is $1,200\,feet$ down.

Slope Mine

A subsurface mine utilizing a sloping shaft that leads to the coal beds.

Thermal Pollution

The result of releasing heated cooling water from power plants back into rivers, making the water warmer than it would naturally be.

Carbon Capture and Sequestration

The process of trapping $CO_2$ in a solvent before it is released and burying the remaining gas in unminable coal seams or deep saline formations.

Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act

A federal law mandating that areas surface-mined for coal must be restored to their approximate original condition after closure.