Coal+Extraction

Here is some background information on coal that you need.

Background Information Coal is considered a fossil fuel. A fossil fuel is a rock, liquid, or gas that is formed by the remains of dead animals that we use to produce energy to fuel our cars, heat our homes, and even help cook our food.

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Coal extraction is a very dangerous process. First, though, there are two main types of coal extraction; surface mining and underground mining. Surface mining is used when the coal deposit is close to the surface. Although surface mining is a lot safer then underground, it takes up a large area and destroys a large part of the local environment. There are a lot of different types of surface mining such as area mining, contour mining, mountain top removal, and room and pillar removal. Area mining is mining and extracting coal in large strips. In contour mining is used in rolling hill areas these areas are mined with the slope of a hill or mountain. There is also mountain top removal mining which removes the tops of mountains. The problem with this is the associated mining overburden is dumped into valleys destroying any ecosystems below. Room and pillar mining consists of cutting a network of rooms in the coal seem and in the end they leave pillars up to hold the roof up. Then the most popular type of mining is underground mining. Underground mining makes up 60% of our coal production. Their are several types of coal mining, but underground mining is by far the most hazardous.
 * __Types of Coal Mining__**

Over the past century more than 100,000 coal miners were killed on job, with more than 3,200 people dead in 1907 alone in the US. Some of the hazards are mine wall failures, vehicular crashes, suffocation, gas poisoning, roof collapse and gas explosions. Most recently there was a mine collapse here in Pennsylvania. This happened back in 2002 when Quecreek Coal Mine was flooded trapping nine miners inside. The nine miners were trapped 240 feet below the surface for three days. These mine collapses and more hazards of mining need to be prevented if we want to continue to use coal and other fossil fuels as an energy resource.
 * __The Hazards of Coal Mining__**

Today we use modern technology and human inspection to help prevent fatal mine disasters. Each underground coal mine is inspected at least four times a year. During an inspection each coal mine is inspected for at least 200 hours to help prevent a disaster. We also have modern technology to help prevent a disaster. There is an AMS (Atmospheric Monitoring System) which monitors carbon monoxide levels. The system monitors the carbon monoxide levels 24/7 and alerts the miners if there is any danger in the mine. There is also an SCSR (Self Contained Self Rescuer). The SCSR provides fresh air for miners in case of an emergency in the mine. Each SCSR provides 10 min of fresh air which is enough time for the miners to get to other caches of SCSRs placed throughout the mine. All the caches throughout the mine provide the miner with an hour of fresh air. Finally there is miner tracking tags. These tracking tags are mounted on the helmets of all miners and visitors of the mine. The trackers send a signal to receivers above the surface where the data is mapped and put on a spreadsheet which constantly updates positions. This is so if there is an emergency all the people in the mine can be immediately located. There are more types of mine safety equipment that you can find on [|this website.]
 * __Coal Mine Safety__**

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