Coal PNG Transparent Images

Submitted by on Apr 21, 2021

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Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock formed by layers of rock called coal seams. Coal is composed of carbon with varying amounts of other elements, mainly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dead plant matter decomposes into peat and turns into coal under the heat and pressure of deep burials over millions of years. Vast deposits of coal formed in former wetlands called coal forests covered much of the Earth’s tropical lands during the Late Carboniferous (Pennsylvania) and Permian times.

Coal is mainly used as fuel. Although coal was known and used for thousands of years, its use was limited until the industrial revolution. With the invention of the steam engine, coal consumption increased. By 2016, coal will remain a necessary fuel, providing about a quarter of the world’s primary energy and two-fifths of electricity. Some ferrous metallurgy and other manufacturing processes burn coal.

Coal mining and use is the cause of many premature deaths and many diseases. The coal industry is damaging the environment, including climate change, as it is the largest anthropogenic source of carbon dioxide, 14 gigatons (Gt) in 2016, accounting for 40% of total fossil fuel emissions and almost 25% of total global greenhouse gas emissions. As part of the worldwide energy transition, many countries have stopped using coal or are using less coal. The UN Secretary-General has asked governments to stop building new coal-fired power plants by 2020. Coal use peaked in 2013, but to achieve the Paris Agreement target of keeping global warming below 2 ° C (3.6 ° F), coal consumption must be halved from 2020 to 2030.

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China is the largest consumer and importer of coal. China produces nearly half of the world’s coal, followed by India at about one-tenth. Australia accounts for about a third of the world’s coal exports, followed by Indonesia and Russia.

The word initially took the form col in Old English, from the Proto-Germanic * kula (n), which in turn is believed to derive from the Proto-Indo-European root * g (e) u-lo, “live coal.” Germanic relatives include Old Frisian Kole, Middle Dutch Cole, Dutch Kool, Old High German Chol, German Kohle, and Old Norse Kol. The Irish word goal is also related to its Indo-European root.

One theory is that around 360 million years ago, some plants developed the ability to produce lignin. This complex polymer makes their cellulosic stems much harder and woodier. This is how the first trees appeared. But bacteria and fungi do not immediately develop the ability to break down lignin, so the wood does not break down entirely. Still, it sinks into the silt, eventually turning into coal. About 300 million years ago, mushrooms and other fungi developed this ability, completing the main period of the coal formation in Earth’s history.

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