You may not be fond of coal if it's in your Christmas stocking, but some see it as a useful and beneficial source of energy. Recently more energy companies have opted to build coal-burning plants, and experts are debating whether this is a viable solution to our energy needs. They say America runs on coal, but are we running in the right direction?
My debate point "Coal is Increasingly clean" describes how despite a doubling in the amount of coal that we used since the 1970s, both the emissions and ambient levels of the six criteria pollutants measured by the EPA (NOx, SOx, Ozone, Lead, Carbon Monoxide, and Particulates/Fine Particulates) are all down substantially. We've doubled our coal use, but decreased overall emissions by a third.
Regarding mercury, widely available means. like activated carbon injection and pre-combustion technologies (coal washing and upgrading) allow the removal of as much as 90% of mercury depending on the chemical make up of the coal and sorbents used.
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