Does coal contribute to climate change and if so, how does it compare to other traditional and alternative energy sources?
CO2 emissions account for approximately 80% of global warming potential. According to EPA, annual carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants are greater than the emissions from all cars, trucks, planes, trains, and other forms of transportation combined. For electricity generation coal produces 83% of CO2 emissions.[3] CO2 emissions are not regulated at the federal level. In 2004, power plant CO2 emissions were 27 percent higher than they were in 1990.[4] The Energy Information Administration projects that the increase in coal generation will result in an additional 1.1 billion tons of annual CO2 emissions from the electric industry.[5] This represents a 43% increase in total electric industry CO2 emissions above 2004 levels. Petroleum has about 25 % less carbon than coal. Natural gas has about 45% less carbon than coal. Air emissions associated with generating electricity from solar, wind, tidal, geothermal are negligible because no fuels are combusted in these processes.
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