Talk:Health and environmental impact of the coal industry

Unscientific
There is a lack of references and no quantitative figures are provided. Words like often, alot, large are useless. This article has probalbly been copied from the website of an environmental organisation. I'd suggest to rate it C. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.65.1.9 (talk) 18 March 2011

73 footnotes found in 2024. Offering considerable specificity.

Needs section on Ocean acidification
Needs section on Ocean acidification

Sample annual emissions from just one plant in Texas:

Sulfuric Acid: 238,474 lbs.

Hydrochloric Acid: 33,517 lbs.

http://www.sierraclub.org/coal/map/

Article should be re-named "Environmental and health impacts of the coal industry"
The Environmental and health impacts of the coal industry are distinct, though related.

The current state of coal
With the rise of renewable energy such as solar and wind, coal, and coal power plants are becoming less dependent in the United States and abroad. Energy pricing associated with coal production and renewable energy has become competitive while coal production declines. Coal decline can be directly attributed to the rise in natural gas production due to new technological advances. With the low cost pricing of natural gas, investment in renewable energy over coal, the world faces an uncertain future for the best form of energy. PurePuffin (talk) 17:23, 11 April 2017 (UTC)PurePuffin
 * This is useful information, but it would be more on point in the Coal mining or Coal mining in the United States articles. Moreau1 (talk) 18:39, 11 April 2017 (UTC)

In many cases, greenhouse impact of gas is worse than coal
I refer to this sentence : "Electric generation using coal burning produces approximately twice the greenhouse gasses per kilowatt compared to generation using natural gas." According to a recent study, this statement looks problematic. See : https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/13/climate/natural-gas-leaks-coal-climate-change.html and https://www.npr.org/2023/07/14/1187648553/natural-gas-can-rival-coals-climate-warming-potential-when-leaks-are-counted Reneza (talk) 16:57, 8 August 2023 (UTC)

Recent study published in Science - excess deaths from coal-fired power plants
This article should be added to the section on mortality, and that section should be moved to the top.

A 2023 study published in Science attributed 27,000 "excess deaths" in Texas from 1999-2020 to pollution from coal-fired power plants. This is part of a larger toll of 460,000 excess deaths nationwide during that period.

Mortality risk from United States coal electricity generation

Lucas Henneman https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1957-8761, Christine Choirat https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3745-9718, Irene Dedoussi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8966-9469, Francesca Dominici https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9382-0141, Jessica Roberts https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5961-4686, and Corwin ZiglerAuthors Info & Affiliations

Science

23 Nov 2023

Vol 382, Issue 6673 pp. 941-946 DOI: 10.1126/science.adf4915 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adf4915

Editor’s summary Abstract Supplementary Materials References and Notes

Editor’s summary

The success of measures to mitigate environmental damage can be hard to assess. The advent of new modeling tools brings us closer to estimates that are reproducible and do not need expensive and time-consuming computing. Henneman et al. found that coal-burning power stations emit fine particulates (PM2.5) containing sulfur dioxide that are associated with higher mortality than other types of PM2.5 (see the Perspective by Mendelsohn and Min Kim). Using a reduced-form atmospheric model combined with historical Medicare data from the US, the authors identified the coal-burning power plants associated with the greatest mortality and estimated the effect that closure or scrubber installation has had on reducing it. This type of approach can provide a rapid indication of the effectiveness of environmental protection measures to inform ongoing policy decisions. —Caroline Ash

Abstract

Policy-makers seeking to limit the impact of coal electricity-generating units (EGUs, also known as power plants) on air quality and climate justify regulations by quantifying the health burden attributable to exposure from these sources. We defined “coal PM2.5” as fine particulate matter associated with coal EGU sulfur dioxide emissions and estimated annual exposure to coal PM2.5 from 480 EGUs in the US. We estimated the number of deaths attributable to coal PM2.5 from 1999 to 2020 using individual-level Medicare death records representing 650 million person-years. Exposure to coal PM2.5 was associated with 2.1 times greater mortality risk than exposure to PM2.5 from all sources. A total of 460,000 deaths were attributable to coal PM2.5, representing 25% of all PM2.5-related Medicare deaths before 2009 and 7% after 2012. Here, we quantify and visualize the contribution of individual EGUs to mortality.

Ocdcntx (talk) 16:54, 14 July 2024 (UTC)