Trench, Richard; Hillman, Ellis (1993). London Under London: A Subterranean Guide (Seconded.). London: John Murray. p.33. ISBN 978-0-7195-5288-5. A few Integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) coal-fired power plants have been built with coal gasification. Although they burn coal more efficiently and therefore emit less pollution, the technology has not generally proved economically viable for coal, except possibly in Japan although this is controversial. [183] [184] Carbon capture and storage Cost is usually one of the biggest factors for many people, which is just one of the reasons why it’s important to compare quotes for any heating system. Technology prices and the cost of labour can vary significantly from company to company, so take the time to shop around.

New wind and solar generation costs fall below existing coal plants". Financial Times . Retrieved 8 November 2018. The extraction and use of coal causes premature death and illness. [6] The use of coal damages the environment, and it is the largest anthropogenic source of carbon dioxide contributing to climate change. Fourteen billion tonnes of carbon dioxide were emitted by burning coal in 2020, [7] which is 40% of the total fossil fuel emissions [8] and over 25% of total global greenhouse gas emissions. [9] As part of worldwide energy transition, many countries have reduced or eliminated their use of coal power. [10] [11] The United Nations Secretary General asked governments to stop building new coal plants by 2020. [12] Global coal use was 8.3 billion tonnes in 2022. [13] Global coal demand is set to remain at record levels in 2023. [14] To meet the Paris Agreement target of keeping global warming below 2°C (3.6°F) coal use needs to halve from 2020 to 2030, [15] and "phasing down" coal was agreed upon in the Glasgow Climate Pact. But how did the people of the past keep warm in winter? From about the 14th to 19th centuries the ‘Little Ice Age’ in Europe and North America meant that our ancestors were accustomed to harsh winters of enveloping snow and ice. And they had all sorts of methods of heating their homes and keeping the cold at bay. Darton, Horatio Nelson (1916). "Guidebook of the Western United States: Part C - The Santa Fe Route, with a side trip to Grand Canyon of the Colorado". U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin. 613: 81. doi: 10.3133/b613. hdl: 2027/hvd.32044055492656.

Whether you use renewable or traditionally generated electricity, you can use it to power an electric boiler, storage heaters, electric radiators, water heaters and heat pumps. Air source and ground source heat pumps use a small amount of electricity to extract latent natural heat from either the air or ground and use it to heat water for your home. Heat pumps produce no carbon emissions, are very cheap to run and simple to maintain. Get quotes for a new heating system The woody tissue of plants is composed mainly of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Modern peat is mostly lignin, with a content of cellulose and hemicellulose ranging from 5% to 40%. Various other organic compounds, such as waxes and nitrogen- and sulfur-containing compounds, are also present. [36] Lignin has a weight composition of about 54% carbon, 6% hydrogen, and 30% oxygen, while cellulose has a weight composition of about 44% carbon, 6% hydrogen, and 49% oxygen. Bituminous coal has a composition of about 84.4% carbon, 5.4% hydrogen, 6.7% oxygen, 1.7% nitrogen, and 1.8% sulfur, on a weight basis. [37] This implies that chemical processes during coalification must remove most of the oxygen and much of the hydrogen, leaving carbon, a process called carbonization. [38] Refined coal is the product of a coal-upgrading technology that removes moisture and certain pollutants from lower-rank coals such as sub-bituminous and lignite (brown) coals. It is one form of several precombustion treatments and processes for coal that alter coal's characteristics before it is burned. Thermal efficiency improvements are achievable by improved pre-drying (especially relevant with high-moisture fuel such as lignite or biomass). [96] The goals of precombustion coal technologies are to increase efficiency and reduce emissions when the coal is burned. Precombustion technology can sometimes be used as a supplement to postcombustion technologies to control emissions from coal-fueled boilers. WHO – Ambient (outdoor) air quality and health". who.int. Archived from the original on 4 January 2016 . Retrieved 7 January 2016.

Coke is a solid carbonaceous residue derived from coking coal (a low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal, also known as metallurgical coal), which is used in manufacturing steel and other iron products. [76] Coke is made from coking coal by baking in an oven without oxygen at temperatures as high as 1,000°C, driving off the volatile constituents and fusing together the fixed carbon and residual ash. Metallurgical coke is used as a fuel and as a reducing agent in smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. [77] The carbon monoxide produced by its combustion reduces hematite (an iron oxide) to iron.Kompas, Tom; Pham, Van Ha; Che, Tuong Nhu (2018). "The Effects of Climate Change on GDP by Country and the Global Economic Gains From Complying With the Paris Climate Accord". Earth's Future. 6 (8): 1153–1173. Bibcode: 2018EaFut...6.1153K. doi: 10.1029/2018EF000922. ISSN 2328-4277. Lignite coal – health effects and recommendations from the health sector" (PDF). Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL).

How much carbon dioxide is produced when different fuels are burned?". eia.gov. Archived from the original on 12 January 2016 . Retrieved 7 January 2016.

However, for China this is forecast for the early 2020s [119] and for southeast Asia not until the late 2020s. [120] In India building new plants is uneconomic and, despite being subsidized, existing plants are losing market share to renewables. [121] Market trends

When coal is used for electricity generation, it is usually pulverized and then burned in a furnace with a boiler (see also Pulverized coal-fired boiler). [98] The furnace heat converts boiler water to steam, which is then used to spin turbines which turn generators and create electricity. [99] The thermodynamic efficiency of this process varies between about 25% and 50% depending on the pre-combustion treatment, turbine technology (e.g. supercritical steam generator) and the age of the plant. [100] [101] LPG (liquid petroleum gas) is another alternative for off-grid homes which produces less carbon than oil. Like oil, it is delivered either in a tank or refillable bottles, but it is often more expensive. Electricity McGhee, George R. (2018). Carboniferous Giants and Mass Extinction: The Late Paleozoic Ice Age World. New York: Columbia University Press. p.98. ISBN 9780231180979. Liu, Weiguo; Wang, Jingxin; Bhattacharyya, Debangsu; Jiang, Yuan; Devallance, David (2017). "Economic and environmental analyses of coal and biomass to liquid fuels". Energy. 141: 76–86. doi: 10.1016/j.energy.2017.09.047.Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference