Product Description
This digital document is an article from Energy, published by Thomson Gale on March 22, 2005. The length of the article is 3537 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Coal age: coal production is increasing. A review of U.S. supply and demand.(FOSSIL FUELS)
Author: Fred Freme
Publication: Energy (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 22, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 30Issue: 2Page: 17(4)

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In this remarkable book, Barbara Freese takes us on a rich historical journey that begins hundreds of millions of years ago and spans the globe. Prized as "the best stone in Britain" by Roman invaders who carved jewelry out of it, coal has transformed societies, expanded frontiers, and sparked social movements, and still powers our electric grid. Yet coal’s world-changing power has come at a tremendous price, including centuries of blackening our skies and lungs—and now the dangerous warming of our global climate. Ranging from the "great stinking fogs" of London to the rat-infested coal mines of Pennsylvania, from the impoverished slums of Manchester to the toxic streets of Beijing, Coal is a captivating narrative about an ordinary substance with an extraordinary impact on human civilization. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (35)

Another way to see History
Simply put, this book explains in what the world has become by stressing the importance of coal to our society. The book is a geography lecture where the author takes us on a travel through time and space where coal is the linkage to a fascinating history about humankind.

easy, informative read
I really loved this book and finished it in record time. I often have trouble keeping interest in nonfiction books, especially ones about technology, but when I put it down I kept wanting to come back for more. Lots of interesting information presented in a straightforward way without jargon or convoluted explanations. I recommend it for everyone.

Coal in the Stocking of Humanity
If you approach this book hoping to get an in depth and historic view of coal as a substance that formed and shaped much of human history and culture, you will find little satisfaction here. I was expecting a book something akin to Mark Kurlansky's excellent books "Salt" and "Cod" but instead found a rushed and basic overview of the history of coal and the coal industry so the author could get to her soapbox and start talking about how evil coal is for the environment. The last hundred pages are a pretty in depth sermon (more in depth than the history in the book) about why coal is bad and why we must forsake it for more environmentally friendly forms of energy. All right, I get it and I don't disagree with the premise, but my very negative rating of this book is due to the fact that it is disinginuous in its reperesentation. If the book had been called "Coal: Ho-Ha, Good God, What Is It Gooood For" I might not hold this view. But the book was called "Coal: A Human History" and there is very little history (especially in the "other uses for coal other than burning" department) and more eco-rant by an author who holds her subject in very little regard. Disappointing.

Fact, Fantasy, Fiction....which is it?
After struggling toooo long with this book...I question the authors intent.She compiles little facts with lots of her own beliefs and opinions...it is hard to read without finding conclusions- unproven -jumping in your face and wondering...now how on earth did I get here.Where is the fact in this...
History defined means: a chronological record of significant events often including an explanation of their causes...even if you consider opposing perspectives the facts are missing with many conclusions happening.I'm not a scholar but I am smarter than this.Human Fiction is a more accurate subtitle.
P.S. I come from a family of pioneers and coal miners...I wanted more and am sorely disappointed. Enough to write my first book review.

amazingly interesting book on coal- who would have thought?
Very easy read and more interesting than you would have thought.It was a coffee table book at my in-laws house that I picked up and ended up taking home with me.I did return it when I was done. ... Read more

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This is an important look at coal exploration and mining worldwide, with discussions on the parameters and decision-making factors in drilling and processing coal. ... Read more

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This integrated text presents both the chemistry and geology of coal, describing the essential aspects of the petrology and petrographic characterization of coal, the processes involved in coal conversion and utilization, and the testing and analysis of coal. The book includes the most recent statistics regarding production and utilization as well as the most recent developments in structure, reactivity and routine analysis. Also provided are many tables and figures. ... Read more

Product Description
A textbook looking at coal and its combustion, covering industrial applications, environmental aspects and combustion mechanisms.Written by experts in the field. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Kyoto Clean Development Mechanism - Carbon Brokering
. A power generator burns about one pound of coal to make one kilowatt hour of electricity.

2. Coke, a byproduct of burnt coal is composed of small amounts of hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur, and oxygen. Coke is used in steel production.

3. In 1918 coal production reached 678 million tons; in 1994 coal production reached a high of 683 million tons and 688 million tons in 1947. Railroads switched to diesel fuel, reducing their coal consumption to 62 million tons in 1973. The rise of oil and natural gas also impact coal usage so by 1973 coal usage had dropped to 11 million tons. The Yom Kippur War of 1973 caused a retaliatory reaction by OPEC, cutting its oil production by five million barrels a day and causing oil prices to increase 400 percent in six months. "Just before the 1973-1974 oil embargo, the abundance of cheap fuel oil and growing interest in nuclear power threatened the future of coal." The use of coal had declined to 18 percent and oil consumption and natural gas used had increased in relative importance. "Investors had been losing confidence in coal." Demand for electricity increased six fold between 1950-1973. "With the oil embargo of 1973-1974, the demand of coal surge from 92 million tons to 389 million tons a year". Coal was to be the fuel of the future. In 1999, the US consumed 1 billion tons of coal and coal consumption is predicted to be 1.3 billion tons by 2020.

4. Coal generates 51 percent of total US electricity in 1999. Today there are 600 coal fire plants providing electricity. 1,200 new power plants will need to be built by 2020.

5. Natural gas replacement of coal is expected to cause slight drops in coal consumption. Consumption of coal in Canada and Mexico is project to rise from 77 million tons in 1999 to 93 million tons in 2020. Asian countries use 36 percent of the worlds coal in 1999. China consumes 23 percent of the coal. US coal technology will be sold to China and India which have large coal reserves for electricity generation. Coal consumption in Europe will drop over concern about the environmental impact of coal. Europe will migrate towards alternative fuels like solar and nuclear power.

6. Fly ash, the black soot can be removed by devices called precipitators. Today, 95 percent of sulfur oxides can be removed from coal production emissions. EPA estimates that sulfur dioxide emissions from electric utilities have gone down 18 percent since their peak in 1973.

7. The Clean Coal Technology demonstration program was established in 1985. CCT primary goal was to bring industry, universities, and state and federal agencies together to clean up coal emissions while preserving cheap, clean coal to benefit the economy with affordable energy. Electricity must remain abundant and cheap to allow US companies to produce profitably in a competitive world. If electricity becomes to expensive, companies will move to countries where electricity is cheap and regulate non existent. CCT us expected to create a $480 billion export market over the next thirty years.

8. Carbon brokering may provide the financial incentives to share clean air technology as carbon is treated as a commodity. The carbon brokering is expected to become a major commodity trade item. The Kyoto plan includes a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). "The CDM allows developed countries to get credits for investing in projects in developing countries that offset greenhouse gas emissions." (Big Coal). "According to the World Bank, as much as $12.5 billion will be spent on CDM projects in developing countries." In 2005, the first year of carbon trading in EU, the carbon market grew to $7 billion and by the time the Kyoto protocol kicks in the market is project to grow to $50 billion. Financial brokers Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch are getting into the game. CDM empowers investors to get involved in reducing carbon emission by providing financial incentives, "greed", to drive them towards profits. China is signatory a development country that could benefit from CDM. Investors will arrange, "American energy company looking to offset carbon emissions and by a little goodwill with the Chinese" (Big coal) The Chinese are eager to demonstrate it progressive values and commitment to the environment.

9. One technique for removing sulfur from coal is to crush the coal into small chunks and rinse it in water. The coal floats to the surface and the sulfur sinks to the bottom. However, not all the sulfur can be removed because it is chemically connected to the coal. Several processes have been tested that mix chemicals with the coal that break the sulfur away from the carbon molecules. Most processes and chemicals are extremely expensive.

10. Scrubbers use limestone to remove sulfur emissions. The limestone is crushed into a powder. Under the right conditions the limestone can be made to absorb the sulfur gases like a sponge.. The lime is mixed with water and sprayed into the coal combustion gases. The limestone captures the sulfur by pulling it out of the gases. The residue is a wet paste. New technology is reducing the cost of scrubbers. Sorbents can cut costs. Sorbents are used to reduce nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide emission near zero by 2008.

11. Fluidized bed coal combustion mixes solid coal with the gas it produces resulting in more efficient chemical reaction and heat transfer.

12. Technology allowing coal burn temperatures to drop to 1,400 to 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit eliminates 95 percent of the pollutants.

13. Polk Power plant, a 250 MW plant, has developed a process that turns coal to gas, strip out toxins. The coal is ground up and mixed with water into a slurry. The plant products 85 less nitrogen dioxide and 32 less sulfur emissions.
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Customer Reviews (2)

A wonderful labor of love about anthracite and coal cars
This is a great book about (ultimately) the cars used to haul anthracite coal on the New York, Ontario and Western Railway.Clearly a labor of love (the author's grandfather was an engineer on the road), it covers the anthracite industry, the railroads involved, and railroad car construction and appliances, before getting into the cars used by the NYO&W itself.The biggest complaint would be that the book is too short, especially in its introductory chapters.The author has clearly done a lot of research, from which he has drawn some clear conclusions, well argued and well-written.It will be of great usefulness to anyone interested in the anthracite industry and its associated railroads, rairoad car construction, model railroaders, and of course the NYO&W.
The author, the publisher (University of Scranton Press), and everyone else involved are to be congratulated for a book that is so well put together, and which clearly is the result of much effort and devotion by all concerned.It is a wonderful (and unfortunately infrequent) contrast to so many other railroad history books that seem to be just thrown together, with no one caring about the final result.

Spectacular intellectual product
A really definitive study of coal/coal cars that extends far beyond the NYO&W.Any industrial historian or model railroader interested in coal haulers needs a copy of this spectacular intellectual product.See Railroad Model Craftsman for October 2006 for a full, very positive rview. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is an integrated approach towards the applications of coal (organic) petrology and discusses the role of this science in the field of coal and coal-related topics.

Coal petrology needs to be seen as a continuum of organic (macerals) and inorganic (minerals and trace elements) contributions to the total coal structure, with the overprint of coal rank.All this influences the behavior of coal in utilization, the coal by-products, the properties of coal as a reservoir for methane or a sequestration site for carbon dioxide, and the relationships of coal utilization with health and environmental issues.

The interaction of coal properties and coal utilization begins at the mine face.The breakage of the coal in mining influences its subsequent beneficiation.Beneficiation is fundamental to the proper combustion of coal and is vital to the preparation of the feedstock for the production of metallurgical coke.An understanding of basic coal properties is important for achieving reductions in trace element emissions and improving the efficiency of combustion and combined-cycle gasification. The production of methane from coal beds is related to the properties of the in situ coal.Similarly, coal bed sequestration of carbon dioxide produced from combustion is dependent on the reservoir properties.Environmental problems accompany coal on its way from the mine to the point of utilization and beyond.Health aspects related with coal mining and coal utilization are also included because, in planning for coal use, it is impossible to separate environmental and health issues from the discussion of coal utilization.

The book is aimed at a wide audience, ranging from researchers, lecturers and students to professionals in industry and discusses issues (such as the environmental, and health) that are of concern to the general public as a whole.

Key Features:

- This book focuses on the applications of coal (organic) petrology to our modern society.

- It is an integrated approach to help the reader appreciate the importance of coal quality and coal utilization.Coal composition (macerals, mineral, trace elements) and the overprint of coal rank are treated together.

- The book synthesises all the possibilities of the organic petrology as a tool for coal utilization in conventional applications (mining and beneficiation, coal combustion, gasification, liquefaction, carbonization), as a precursor of carbon materials and as a petroleum source and reservoir rock.

- The role of applied petrology in the characterization of solid by-products from coal utilization is also discussed.

- In addition, this book describes the present status of environmental and health problems linked to coal utilization and the ways in which such problems might be overcome in the future. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Macmillan Reference USA Science Library: Animal Sciences, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 922 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.This interdisciplinary resource explores the wide-ranging diversity that exists within the animal kingdom. Entries examine how animals develop, animal ecology and behavior, and the connection between animals and humans. Also includes biographies of key scientists who have contributed to the study of animal life, as well as career opportunities within the field. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), published by The Register Guard on September 17, 2009. The length of the article is 593 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: City revs up plan to cut emissions.(Government Local)(The goal with Eugene's "Climate and Energy Action Plan" is to halve fossil fuel consumption)
Author: Unavailable
Publication: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) (Newspaper)
Date: September 17, 2009
Publisher: The Register Guard
Page: B9

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This digital document is an article from World Watch, published by Worldwatch Institute on September 1, 2009. The length of the article is 5481 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: A bridge to the renewable energy future: renewables are coming fast. In the meantime, here's a largely overlooked but potent way to minimize fossil fuel use and the damage it causes.
Author: Robert U. Ayres
Publication: World Watch (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2009
Publisher: Worldwatch Institute
Volume: 22Issue: 5Page: 22(8)

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This digital document is an article from APS Review Oil Market Trends, published by Arab Press Service on March 8, 2010. The length of the article is 565 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The Global Shift From Fossil Fuels.
Author: Unavailable
Publication: APS Review Oil Market Trends (Newsletter)
Date: March 8, 2010
Publisher: Arab Press Service
Volume: 74Issue: 10

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This digital document is an article from E, published by Earth Action Network, Inc. on May 1, 2004. The length of the article is 1068 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Energizing wood power: replacing fossil fuels in a "clean energy" economy.(Currents)
Author: Heather Kaplan
Publication: E (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 1, 2004
Publisher: Earth Action Network, Inc.
Volume: 15Issue: 3Page: 23(3)

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This digital document is an article from New Life Journal, published by New Life Journal Media LLC on December 1, 2008. The length of the article is 1668 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Fossil fuels not required: Brian Knight shares the achievement of his goal to create a home that can be heated and cooled in a truly green fashion with the NU Green Home Experts Board.(new life journal's GREEN HOME RESOURCE: GREEN HOME SHOWCASE)
Author: Maggie Cramer
Publication: New Life Journal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 1, 2008
Publisher: New Life Journal Media LLC
Volume: 9Issue: 11Page: 38(4)

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