FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
HOW COAL CAN BENEFIT YOU
COLLIERY ARTICLES
THE STORY OF ANTHRACITE
OLD ST. NICHOLAS BREAKER
NEW ST. NICHOLAS BREAKER
THE COMMENTATOR GLOSSARY OF
ANTHRACITE MINING TERMS

WHY USE COAL?

Do you wonder why we still use coal? After all, we have oil, nuclear power and even the sun as power sources.

There's A Lot of Coal
For one reason we have a lot of coal. If we used all the recoverable coal we have in the United States at the same rate we're using it today, there is enough coal to last more than two hundred years. We have much more coal than oil or natural gas. And even though nuclear power can be used to generate electricity, it has become more and more expensive and difficult to build this type of power plant. What about the sun or other renewable sources? In some places, wind power, geothermal energy, wood, waste and solar technologies supply energy directly to homes and businesses. These alternative sources are spread out geographically, vary with the weather and the seasons, and produce expensive energy. Therefore, no single current technology can supply a major portion of the huge amounts of electricity demanded by homes, factories and businesses.

We Can Afford It
Another reason for using coal is the cost. Most energy sources are expensive. Over the long term, coal is the least expensive of all fuels.

We Know Where It Is
We already know where most of the coal is located. If you owned a company that was looking for oil or natural gas, you might spend millions of dollars trying to find these fuels, many times without any luck. Looking for coal costs money, but it is easier and cheaper to find than oil and natural gas.

We Can Protect the Environment
Early in the 20th century, coal use had a bad image because
of the soot, dirt and pollution it created. But in modern times, through strict emission controls installed in coal fired
generators, our air has gotten cleaner even though we use
much more coal today than we did 50 or 75 years ago. This improvement has come because of technologies that help
reduce emissions from coal and the greater use of lower sulfur coals. In the same way, great care is taken by coal companies to restore the land, which is temporarily disturbed during mining. Coal is a logical fuel because we have lots of it, we can afford it and we know where it is.