Environmental issues

Coal utilisation in industry has a long and rich history as a provider of reliable energy for electricity production and industrial processing. The management of environmental issues arising from this use has become an increasingly central concern, and raises challenges for industry as it faces potential impacts on air and water quality, and climate, from the emissions associated with coal combustion and other industrial processes. The concerns include greenhouse gas emissions, acid gases, fine particles, and the leaching of toxic trace elements from ash and slag. In this chapter the nature of the emissions and their impacts, legislative approaches, and emissions and controls are described. Finally some observations on the future of coal use are made, and the impacts of advanced technologies on environmental issues associated with coal use are briefly discussed.