Coal Debate

Yashodhara
Coal: There have been many arguments when it comes to choosing the best energy source.

However, being a massive producer of greenhouse gases, coal also has many advantages that

make it one of the best and most convenient energy sources today. As much as one can

believe that renewable energy is the least harmful to the environment and fossil fuels are the

most widely used energy source, coal has many quite a few benefits to it too. It is cheap and

reliable, burns easily with little harm to the environment, and its abundant and used

frequently. When considering the most effective and efficient energy source, coal is the best

option to choose from.

1. Cheap & reliable

• Research conducted in 2018 by the American industry and EIA, a primary

communication channel for the U.S. energy administration, the coal in the U.S. cost

no more than $35.99 per ton.

• As well as that, Worldcoal.com, a membership association representing the coal

industry at a global level estimated that is around 1.1 trillion of proven coal reserves

worldwide. They believe it might last more than 150 years at the current rate

production. This means that people can easily rely on coal because it will last them

long.

• Moreover, National coal council.org a global coal company states, “Coal also has the

unique advantage of being able to be stored on-site, providing weeks or even months

of fuel supply at the power plant. This important characteristic contributes to grid

reliability, resiliency and reduces fuel supply bottlenecks.”

Counter back to Counterargument:

2. Burns easily with little amount of harm to the environment

• Even though coal produces harmful gases, it isn’t at a severe rate than fossil fuels and

wood. This was proven in 2017, the U.S. government of energy (GOV) noted that

only 9% of total U.S. methane was produced by coal and that only accounted for

about 1% of the greenhouse gases that were released due to the burning of coal.

• In addition, According to abc.net.au, an Australian energy association, coal is a quick

reactant to oxygen, especially brown coal which burns easily and generates heat and

energy. Coal is also very dense which allows it to burn up to two days before have to

being replenished again.

Counter back to Counterargument:

Additionally,

3. Abundant and used frequently

• 60% of China’s economy runs on coal and they are considered the largest coal

consumers. If coal was stopped being supplied, the economy would drop.

• Apart from this, even the EIA stated that coal is the stable energy source for the

country and nearly 10 billion tons of coal is produces and exported per year in the

U.S. and they are considered the biggest producers.

• Furthermore, According to Carbon.brief.org written by Simon Evans a specialist with

a PhD in biochemistry, 40% of the world in which 80 countries are supplied with

coal. Research has also found that 13 new countries would be joining in this

movement. As mentioned before if 80+ countries are involved with coal business and

if the production and exporting of coal is stopped, the economy will drop rapidly.
In contrast, many believe that fossil fuels are the most widely used and most reliable energy

source. However, using coal is a much reliable way to ensure that the energy will last longer

with less danger to the environment.

Fossil Fuel:

Arguments:

• According to NationalGeographic 80% of the world relies on fossil fuels for daily

activities including petroleum. However, if 80% of the world uses fossil fuels and this

keeps going on at the current pace it is at, soon there would be no more fossil left for

another million years. According to enotes, a scholarly website, “It takes millions

(sometimes hundreds of millions) of years to obtain fossil fuels and this is why they

are regarded as non-renewable source of fuels.” If fossil fuels are kept being used at

the rate they are currently being used at, the world might run out of fuel soon making

it a logically non-reliable source.

Renewable Energy:

Arguments:

Moreover, even though renewable energy is considered the most stable and non-harmful

source because it is obtained from sources such as the sun and the wind it also has it

downsides.

• Even though one can argue that renewable energy is the most nature-friendly energy,

the cost that it would take to set up the necessities needed for capturing the energy

would be a lot. Last recorded in 2018, the investment that the U.S. put in the supplies

for renewable energy cost up to $288.9 billion, exceeding both fossil and coal

investments.
 • In addition, many thoughts were put into turning most of the United States into a

renewable energy land, technologically and logistically. However, a Yale.edu energy

professor, Wood Mackenzie estimated the cost that it would take would be more than

$4.5 trillion, which would cost more than average economy salary of the U.S.

Conclude: To sum up, these reasons can imply that coal is the most effective and

consistent energy source in the world when compared. Coal comes with many

advantages such as being cheap and reliable, being able to burn easily with little harm

to the environment and being abundant and used frequently. This lead can easily

guarantee that coal would be a better source. Taking into consideration the benefits that

coal will bring to the present-day society and the positive effect it will have on the global

world, coal should be used more frequently.