The Real (and dirty) Picture of Running a Coal Fired Power Plant

While it is agreeable that coal fired power plants produce a lot of carbon emissions, there are other, more sinister emissions from a coal fired power plant.

The following information is from http://www.howstuffworks.com/question481.htm

"The thermal energy content of coal is 6,150 kWh/ton. Although coal fired power generators are very efficient, they are still limited by the laws of thermodynamics. Only about 40 percent of the thermal energy in coal is converted to electricity. So the electricity generated per ton of coal is 0.4 x 6,150 kWh or 2,460 kWh/ton."

The emissions from a coal fired power plant is as follows (from Wikipedia)

"Of fossil fuels, coal combustion in thermal power stations result in greater amounts of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of electricity generated (2249 lbs/MWh^[14]) while oil produces less (1672 lb/(MW·h)^[15] or 211 kg/GJ) and natural gas produces the least 1135 lb/(MW·h) (143 kg/GJ).US EPA Clean Energy—Gas"

Other emissions from coal fired power plants (from how stuff works)

"A typical 500 megawatt coal power plant produces 3.5 billion kWh per year. That is enough energy for 4 million of our light bulbs to operate year round. To produce this amount of electrical energy, the plant burns 1.43 million tons of coal. It also produces:"

Pollutant	Total for Power Plant	One Light Bulb-Year's Worth
Sulfur Dioxide - Main cause of acid rain	10,000 Tons	5 pounds
Nitrogen Oxides - Causes smog and acid rain	10,200 Tons	5.1 pounds
Carbon Dioxide - Greenhouse gas suspected of causing global warming	3,700,000 Tons	1852 pounds

While the above may seem shocking, the most shocking information that no one has ever been told - Coal Fired Power Plants are also radioactive! (From Wikipedia)

"As most ores in the Earth's crust, coal also contains low levels of uranium, thorium, and other naturally-occurring radioactive isotopes whose release into the environment leads to radioactive contamination. While these substances are present as very small trace impurities, enough coal is burned that significant amounts of these substances are released. A 1,000 MW coal-burning power plant could have an uncontrolled release of as much as 5.2 metric tons per year of uranium (containing 74 pounds (34 kg) of uranium-235) and 12.8 metric tons per year of thorium.^[21] In comparison, a 1,000 MW nuclear plant will generate about 500 pounds of plutonium and 30 short tons of high-level radioactive controlled waste."

Mercury content is also a large threat from coal fired power plants. Some parts of mercury is now being recaptured in USA power plants, but emissions still exist. In many situations, mercury from coal fired power plants is the largest source of mercury in the current air pollution problem, which then gets into rain, water, and contaminates fish ponds and the local water supply.

It is thus vital that new power plants come from alternative energy as enough technology has been put in to make it economically viable. It is also just as important that we monitor and reduce energy consumption in our own households. Every watt counts.