Nonrenewable Resources

Coal
Student’s name
Institution

Abstract
Coal refers to a type of fossil fuel which forms through a series of geological and biological processes. It starts when plant matter is heaped and turned into peat. The peat turns into another compound known as lignite which subsequently gets converted into sub-bituminous coal. The sub-bituminous coal undergoes various geological and biological processes to turn into bituminous coal which subsequently turns into anthracite. The whole process from plant matter to anthracite lasts millions of years. As a non-renewable source of energy, coal is used in the generation of energy to power various industrial processes. Based on its non-renewability and its high pollution capacity, the use of coal as a source of energy raises a lot of environmental concerns. This paper discusses coal as a source of energy by exploring how it is formed, the location of its major reserves, environmental impacts of its extraction, and the process of energy production.

Coal is non-renewable energy, and generally, it is a combustible brownish-black or black sedimentary rock that is mostly composed of hydrocarbons and carbon. Coal is formed of the remains of the ancient plants and trees that grew in swampy jungles in moist and warm climates in ancient time millions and millions of years ago. The organic and chemical processes that the dead organism undergoes to form coal is referred to as carbonization (Funke, & Ziegler, 2010). The longer the carb…