What are the disadvantages of coal as a natural resource?

What will be an ideal response?

Coal does not burn as cleanly as oil or natural gas and a good bit of it is rather high in sulfur. When it burns, it forms sulfur dioxide which combines with water to form sulfuric acid--the major source of acid rain. Further, soot from coal-fired plants allegedly claims 12,000 lives per year. Extraction of coal is most efficiently extracted by strip mining which deeply scars the land and can make it unusable for years. Mining coal by building tunnels presents a huge health and safety hazard for the miners. Lung disease is a slow death. In addition to the environmental problems, there is no technology yet that allows for using coal as a method of powering transportation. It can be used to generate electricity, but not transportation needs. Finally, there are logistical problems in using coal. It is difficult to transport and much of the available coal is located substantial distances from the points of principal energy demand.