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Showing posts with the label coal availability

4 REASONS THE WORLD IS HOOKED ON COAL

                             Black –you don’t know the meaning of the word until you’ve been down a mine shaft,” yells my friend Nat over the noise of machinery. Gazing at the yawning hole in front me, I start to wonder if I really want to find out what Nat means.                                                [1] STEEL PRODUCTION Over 70 percent of the steel produced worldwide is processed by coal-burning blast furnaces. In addition, the makers of bricks, tiles, cement, plastics, dyes, and explosives use chemicals derived from coal.                                                [2] POWER PRODUCTION By far the biggest consumer of coal, however, is the power industry. Australia generates 84 percent of its electric energy from coal-fired power plants. In China, South Africa, and Denmark, approximately three quarters of the electricity is generated from coal. The United States relies on coal for over half of its electric power. Worldwide, more than a third of th