Both nuclear energy and coal is considered to be the most significant source of energy for mankind. In the absence of these two sources there wouldn't be any difference between our luxurious 21st century and the pervious centuries. Even though, both of them are sources of energy, there are differences between them. There are three different aspects of nuclear energy and coal those are characteristics, benefits and adverse effect.
There are two ways in which nuclear energy is produced that is natural and man-made nuclear energy. Natural nuclear energy comes from the sun and other stars produce heat and light by nuclear reactions. Man made nuclear energy is made by nuclear reactors. Nuclear power plants have enough power to provide electricity for many cities. There are two ways in which nuclear energy is released, the first way is when large nuclei breaks into small nuclei and another way is vice versa, that is, when small nuclei combine and from a large nuclei these processes are known as nuclear fission and nuclear fusion respectively(Altprofits, n.d). One of the most noticeable characteristics is nuclear energy is renewable. Nuclear energy doesn't produce pollution but it emits radioactive substances.
Nowadays people are turning to use nuclear energy. One of the top causes is because nuclear energy is a clean source of energy. It doesn't cause any greenhouse and acid rain effect. This makes it produce very less pollution and help reduce the rate of global warming. Nuclear energy is renewable which makes it a good prospect for the future source of energy as most of the other energy is non-renewable. Small amount of nuclear energy can create a tremendous amount of energy, for example one piece of uranium that is the size of pencil eraser can produces more than 6 tons of coal and the waste generated can produce more energy.(Ovilia,2011)
There are drawbacks of using nuclear energy too. Despite being a clean source of energy it emits radioactive substance which is very harmful to the human beings as it destroys cells and is present for a very long period of time. A great example would be the leakage from the nuclear power plants in Fukushima, Japan. Since radioactive substance is dangerous and is found in nuclear, it is the most hazardous weapon used between countries for protection. Nuclear energy can go through combustion even in the absence of oxygen, resulting in exposure of radioactive substance (Ovilia, 2011). This is why nuclear power plants are designed using advanced technology, which is costly. Though nuclear reactors are designed with advance technology for safety issues they are still problems with disposal of nuclear waste since it cannot be exposed to the atmosphere.
Coal is one of most abundant fossil fuel used in present. It has been used as a major source of energy for approximately 200 years. Most of the energy used in presented, including coal, is often non-renewable source of energy which could result in rapid depletion, as human demands more and more energy supply(Little & Match, 2009). Coal is also known as fossil fuels that were formed of trees marine organism that lived millions of years ago. Coal is composed mainly with carbon thus releases carbon dioxide and substantial amount of heat energy during combustion.
Coal is still the present and most widely used source of energy in the world and a main provider of electricity. One of reasons that coal is widely used is because it is easily available in many parts of the world; 24% in United Kingdom thus makes it cheaper than other sources of energy(Little & Match, 2009). Even the equipment needed in the coal combustion is fairly cheap compared to other sources of energy. Coal can be easily transported to the power station as it doesn't contain any dangerous substances like radioactive particles in it. Coal is used for various purposes which make it a versatile source of energy; it is used in industries in powering the boiler to household activities such as BBQs for home fires. Coal industries also benefits the economy by increasing the number of employment since coal mining and distribution process is much large than many other industries. (Ann, n.d).
As mentioned earlier coal is a limited source of energy. As per the rate of consumption of coal it is predicted that coal won't last for many years. The mining and burning of coal has a long history of negative impacts on our environment. Burning of coal gives out a lot of carbon dioxide and other green house gases to the air which causes air pollution. These gases destroy the ozone layer of the earth causing a steady increase in earth's temperature in the past 50 years commonly known as global warming(Ovilia, 2011).. Coal miners are the victim who suffers from diseases like emphysema and black lungs because they breathe in too much coal dust. Clean coal technologies (CCTs), encouraged by a government helps to reduce the emission of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and some amount of mercury. The emission of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide forms acid rain which is poisonous to plants and aquatic animals. Mercury can cause a real damage to the human health by eating the contaminated fish (Little & Match, 2009).
In my opinion, after considering all the three different aspects between coal and nuclear energy, nuclear energy is better than coal energy. The reason behind my opinion is nuclear energy is renewable and doesn't cause pollution like coal energy. Our earth is getting worst day by day due to the global warming effects and major part of it is due to coal. It is true that nuclear energy is not safe to be used at the moment but soon enough scientist and researchers would come up with more advanced technology and make nuclear energy our primary source of energy.
