Nature Awareness

Lesson 4

What is Coal?

-Coal is a fuel that supplies a lot of our country's energy needs.

How is Coal formed?

-Coal is formed when peat is altered physically and chemically.
-This process is called "Coalification."

How a coal-fired power station works?

http://www.eon-uk.com/EnergyExperience/353.htm
Advantages

-Burning coal is one of the cheapest ways to generate power at the moment.

-Coal power stations can be built anywhere where there are good transport links and where there is a plentiful supply of cooling water.

Disadvantages
-Coal is not renewable 
-Coal is not easy to transport
-Burning coal produces carbon dioxide

What is oil?
-Oil is a fuel found underground.
How oil is form?
http://savingplanetearth.co.uk/Fossil%20Fuels.htm
How a coal-fired power station works?
http://www.eon-uk.com/EnergyExperience/351.htm

Advantages

-Oil is easy to transport

-Oil-fired power stations can be built anywhere where there are good transport links and where there is a
plentiful supply of cooling water.

-A large amount of electricity can be generated from one power station quickly (efficient).
Disadvantages
-Oil is not renewable
-It also produces other emissions eg. sulphur dioxide.
-Burning oil produces produces carbon dioxide, a gas which makes it harder for the Sun's heat to escape into space. This makes the Earth's atmosphere warmer and can cause problems like making countries hotter and drier.
-New pipelines to transport oil can be costly to build. 

What is Natural Gas?
-Natural gas is a fuel found underground, often under the sea bed.
How a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power station works?
http://www.eon-uk.com/EnergyExperience/352.htm#using

Advantages

-Gas is light and easy to transport by pipeline
-Gas-fired power stations are normally built near rivers and the gas pipeline network, but they can be built anywhere.
- Large amounts of electricity can be generated from one gas-fired power station

Disadvantages

-Gas is not renewable. There is a limited supply, which will eventually be used up.

-Gas is a fossil fuel and burning it produces carbon dioxide, a gas which makes it harder for the Sun's heat to escape into space. This makes the Earth's atmosphere warmer and can cause problems like making countries hotter and drier. 

The Benefit of natural gas over oil

-Natural gas is much cheaper than oil

-Natural gas burns cleaner than oil

 Explore The Environmental Impact

 http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-and-you/affect/index.html