COAL FACTSHEET #1
THE DIRTY FACTS ABOUT COAL
Impacts of Coal on Health & the Environment
O
ur global addiction to coal is killing us and irreparably
damaging our planet. Each year, hundreds of
thousands of people die due to coal pollution. Millions
more around the world suffer from asthma attacks, heart
attacks, hospitalizations and lost workdays.1 Those who
resist coal are faced with violence and repression.
Up to 1200 new coal-fired power plants are planned
around the world. If all of these plants were built, it would
lock in decades of hazardous emissions into our air and
water and would continue coal’s heavy toll on human
health. On top of that, the greenhouse gas emissions
from these plants would put us a path of catastrophic
climate change, causing global temperatures to rise by
over 5 degrees Celsius by 2100.2
A burgeoning global movement is pressuring
governments and institutions to take action to end our
reliance on coal. In the European Union, 109 proposed
coal-fired power plants have been defeated. Last year,
the Chinese government banned the construction
permitting of new coal plants in the three key economic
regions surrounding the cities of Beijing, Shanghai and
Guangzhou, housing 30% of China’s current coal-fired
power generation capacity. US groups have defeated 179
new coal-fired power plants, and more than 165 existing
plants are slated for retirement.
International financial institutions, such as the World Bank,
the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
and the European Investment Bank, have adopted policies
restricting or eliminating support for coal plants. The
US and several European countries have also enacted
bans on financing coal overseas except in limited
circumstances.
While the movement to stop coal is growing, the coal
industry is relentless in its push to mine and burn more
coal. We must join together to put an end to coal.
Coal in Perspective
Coal’s share of world energy generation: 41%
Coal’s share of energy-related CO2 emissions: 72%
Percentage of fossil fuel reserves that must be left in
the ground to avoid catastrophic
climate change: 72%
Global coal production (2012): 7,830 million tonnes
Projected growth in demand through 2018: 2.3
Top
Exporters:
Indonesia,
Australia,
Russia, USA
Top
importers:
China, Japan,
India, South
Korea
Top
Consumers:
China, USA,
India, Japan,
Russia, South
Africa
Impacts of the Coal Life Cycle
At each stage of its life cycle, coal pollutes the air we breathe, the water we drink and
the land that we depend on. This section briefly describes the impacts of coal mining,
preparation, transport and combustion.
1. MINING
Large tracts of forest and other productive lands are
often cleared and communities are displaced for coal
mines. To expose coal seams, water may be pumped
out of the ground, lowering the water table and reducing
the amount of water available for agriculture, domestic
use and wildlife. Excavated rock is piled up in enormous
waste dumps adjacent to the mines. Heavy metals and
minerals trapped in the waste rock are mobilised once
exposed to air and water and can contaminate surface
and groundwater.
Communities that live near mines
suffer from air and water pollution.
They face reduced life expectancies
and increased rates of lung cancer
and heart, respiratory and kidney
disease. Pregnant women have a
higher risk of having children of
low birth weight. Miners face great
physical risk due to accidents,
explosions and mine collapses. In
China, roughly 4000-6000 workers
die from underground mining
accidents each year.3 Miners are also
directly exposed to toxic fumes, coal
dust and toxic metals, increasing
their risk for fatal lung diseases such
as pneumoconiosis and silicosis.
After coal is mined, it is often prepared for combustion in
coal preparation plants. Coal is usually crushed, washed
with water and other chemicals to reduce impurities
such as clay, sulfur and heavy metals, and dried. Some
chemicals used to “wash” coal are known carcinogens;
others are linked to lung and heart damage. The resulting
wastewater, known as coal slurry, is typically stored in
slurry ponds, which can leak and contaminate surface
and groundwater.
3. TRANSPORT
The transport of coal by train, truck, ship or barge is often
overlooked as a potential health threat to communities
living along transport corridors. Coal trains, trucks and
barges emit coal dust, sometimes at intense levels,
increasing the rate of respiratory and cardiovascular
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COAL FACTSHEET #1
4. COMBUSTION
Coal is the deadliest electricity source on the planet,
killing up to 280,000 people per 1000 terawatt hours of
electricity generated.5 By contrast,
wind kills 150 people and rooftop
solar 440 people per 1000 terawatt
hours. The burning of coal emits
hazardous air pollutants that can
spread for hundreds of kilometres.
Pollutants include particulate matter,
sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides,
carbon dioxide, mercury and arsenic.6
Some of these pollutants react in the
atmosphere to form ozone and more
fine particulates. Exposure to these
pollutants can damage people’s
cardiovascular, respiratory and
nervous systems, increasing the risk
of lung cancer, stroke, heart disease,
chronic respiratory diseases and
lethal respiratory infections. Children,
the elderly, pregnant women, and people with already
compromised health suffer most. The emission of sulfates
and nitrates also leads to acid rain, which damages
streams, forests, crops and soils.
Globally, over
350,000 people
die prematurely
each year due to
air pollution from
coal-fired power
plants and millions
more suffer
serious illnesses.
2. PREPARATION/WASHING
2
diseases.4 Before and after transport, coal is often
stockpiled, releasing more coal dust. Residents living
near the world’s largest coal port in Newcastle, Australia
suffer from particulate emissions that regularly cause air
pollution exceeding national health standards. Exposure
to fine particulates increases the risk of premature death,
heart attacks and asthma attacks.
Fine particulate matter pollution is the greatest
environmental health risk globally, and a leading
environmental cause of cancer.7 Particle pollution was
responsible for an estimated 3 million premature deaths
in 2010. Coal-fired power plants are one of the largest
sources of each of the key pollutants contributing to fine
particle pollution globally.
Coal plants consume vast amounts of water for cooling
and steam production. A typical 1000 MW coal plant uses
enough water in one year to meet the basic water needs
of 500,000 people. Massive coal expansion is planned
in China, India and Russia where 63% of the population
already suffer from water scarcity.8
1. MINING
Mountaintop removal,
surface and underground
2. PREPARATION
Destroys forests, uproots
communities.
Heavy metals and other toxics
contaminate water. Rivers and
streams are polluted, harming
communities and wildlife. Coal
washing consumes fresh water.
Air pollution damages heart,
lungs and nervous systems.
CO2 causes global warming.
Pollutants include nitrogen
oxides, sulfur dioxide,
particulates, ozone, heavy
metals and carbon dioxide.
Leaching of heavy metals
and other toxics
contaminates water,
harming communities and
wildlife. Coal washing
consumes fresh water.
3. TRANSPORT
Coal dust increases heart
and lung disease.
4. COMBUSTION
Water withdrawals for
cooling systems can
cause water scarcity
and kill aquatic life.
Thermal water releases
kill aquatic life.
ASH
LANDF
LANDFILL
Leaching of heavy metals and
other toxics pollute water and
increase rates of cancer, birth
defects and neurological
damage. Spills harm humans
and ecosystems.
ENDCOAL
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3
Coal combustion generates waste contaminated with
toxic chemicals and heavy metals, such as arsenic,
cadmium, selenium, lead and mercury. Coal combustion
waste may be stored in waste ponds or landfills,
which are often unlined. Contaminants may leach into
ground and surface water that people depend on for
drinking. This can increase rates of cancer, birth defects,
reproductive problems and neurological damage. Power
plants dump more toxins into rivers and streams than
any other industry in the United States, and toxic waste
from power plants is the second largest source of waste
in the US, behind municipal waste. In February 2014,
over 140,000 tons of coal ash and wastewater from a
retired coal plant spilled into the Dan River in North
Carolina, blackening the waters with a toxic sludge and
contaminating drinking water supplies.
While air pollution control equipment reduces emissions
of toxins to the atmosphere, it transfers the toxins to solid
or liquid waste streams. This ash is stored in waste ponds
or landfills which leach sulfur dioxide and heavy metals
into surface and groundwater.
Coal combustion is the single largest source of
greenhouse gas emissions worldwide and accounts for
72% of greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity
sector. This is warming our planet with devastating
impacts to human health and the environment. The coal
industry proposes that it can build power stations that
will capture carbon dioxide and store it underground.
However, the technological and economic viability of
carbon capture and storage is unproven and is unlikely to
be viable for decades to come, if ever.
Investing in Clean Energy
To end our dependence on coal, it is critical to invest in
clean and sustainable energy options. The first step is to
reduce our overall demand for energy and to implement
energy efficiency measures. The International Energy
Agency recommends that countries target reducing
energy use from new space and water heating; installing
more efficient lighting and new appliances; improving the
efficiency of new industrial motors; and setting standards
for new road vehicles.9
Renewable energy, which generates little or no pollution
and greenhouse gases, has become increasingly
competitive with conventional energy sources. The
increase in economic competitiveness is paving the
way for greater adoption. Since 2008, the price of solar
panels has dropped by 75%.10 According to Deutsche
Bank, 19 regional markets worldwide have now achieved
“grid parity,” where PV solar panels can match or beat
4
local electricity prices without subsidies. This includes
Chile, Australia and Germany for residential power and
Mexico and China for industrial markets.11
Some experts predict that fossil fuel use will peak by
2030 because fossil fuels will be unable to compete with
renewables economically.12 While the cost of fossil fuels will
continue to rise in a carbon-constrained world, the costs of
renewables will continue to decline. A Harvard University
study estimated that the external costs of the coal life cycle
in the US are between a third to a half a trillion dollars
annually. If the full costs of coal were reflected in coal’s
price, it would double or triple the price of electricity from
coal. This would end coal generation more rapidly.
Rather than locking in a dependency on dirty coal for
generations to come, governments and utilities should
invest in clean, renewable energy.
ENDNOTES
RESOURCES
1 Erica Burt, Peter Orris, Susan Buchanan, “Scientific Evidence of Health Effects from Coal Use in
Energy Generation”, University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, 2013, p.5
2 If all the proposed coal-fired power plants were built by 2025, the net increase in coal-fired
generation capacity would exceed the increase in the Current Policies Scenario in the IEA World
Energy Outlook 2012, which is estimated by the IEA to be consistent with median long-term
temperature increase of 5.3oC by 2100.
3 Paul R. Epstein, Jonathan J. Buonocore, Kevin Eckerle, et al. 2011. “Full cost accounting for
the life cycle of coal,” Volume 1219: Ecological Economics Reviews, Annals of the New York
Academy of Sciences, 1219: 73–98.
4 Ibid, p. 84.
5 http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2012/06/10/energys-deathprint-a-price-always-paid/
6 Burt, Orris, and Buchanan, ibid, p.3.
7 International Agency for Research on Cancer, 17 October 2013, http://www.iarc.fr/en/mediacentre/iarcnews/pdf/pr221_E.pdf
8 “The Unquenchable Thirst of an Expanding Coal Industry,” The Guardian, April 1, 2014.
9 “Redrawing the Energy-Climate Map,” World Energy Outlook Special Report, International
Energy Agency, June 10, 2013, p. 47.
10Morgan Bazilian, Ijeoma Onyeji, Michael Liebreich et al. “Reconsidering the Economics of
Photovoltaic Power,” Bloomberg New Energy Finance, May 2012, p.5.
11 “Global solar dominance in sight as science trumps fossil fuels,” The Telegraph, April 25, 2014.
12“‘Peak Fossil Fuels’ Is Closer Than You Think: BNEF,” Bloomberg, April 24, 2013.
Coal Activist
Resource Centre:
endcoal.org
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COAL FACTSHEET #1
Greenpeace
International:
greenpeace.org/
coal
ENDCOAL.ORG
Sierra Club:
sierraclub.org/coal
Union of
Concerned Scientists: ucsusa.org/clean_
energy/
International Renewable Energy Agency:
irena.org