Editing Coal (section)

===Climate change===
[[File:1979- Radiative forcing - climate change - global warming - EPA NOAA.svg|thumb|upright=1.5 | The warming influence (called [[radiative forcing]]) of long-lived greenhouse gases has nearly doubled in 40 years, with carbon dioxide being the dominant driver of global warming.<ref name="NOAA_AGGI_2023">{{cite web |title=The NOAA Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI) |url=https://gml.noaa.gov/aggi/aggi.html |website=NOAA.gov |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241005195609/https://gml.noaa.gov/aggi/aggi.html |archive-date=5 October 2024 |date=2024 |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
The largest and most long-term effect of coal use is the release of carbon dioxide, a [[greenhouse gas]] that causes [[climate change]]. Coal-fired power plants were the single largest contributor to the growth in global CO<sub>2</sub> emissions in 2018,<ref name="Gençsü 2019, p. 8">Gençsü (2019), p. 8</ref> 40% of the total fossil fuel emissions,<ref name="phys2018">{{cite web|url=https://phys.org/news/2018-12-china-unbridled-export-coal-power_1.html|title=China's unbridled export of coal power imperils climate goals|access-date=7 December 2018}}</ref> and more than a quarter of total emissions.<ref name="cebf" />{{refn|14.4 gigatonnes coal/50 gigatonnes total|group=note}} Coal mining can emit methane, another greenhouse gas.<ref>{{cite news |title=China's Coal Plants Haven't Cut Methane Emissions as Required, Study Finds |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/29/climate/china-coal-climate-change.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=29 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.carbonbrief.org/coal-mines-emit-more-methane-than-oil-and-gas-sector-study-finds|title=Coal mines emit more methane than oil-and-gas sector, study finds|last=Gabbatiss|first=Josh|date=2020-03-24|website=Carbon Brief|language=en|access-date=2020-03-29}}</ref>

In 2016 world gross [[carbon dioxide emissions]] from coal usage were 14.5 gigatonnes.<ref>{{cite web |title=Emissions |url=http://www.globalcarbonatlas.org/en/CO2-emissions |publisher=Global Carbon Atlas |access-date=6 November 2018}}</ref> For every megawatt-hour generated, coal-fired electric power generation emits around a tonne of carbon dioxide, which is double the approximately 500&nbsp;kg of carbon dioxide released by a [[natural gas]]-fired electric plant.<ref>{{cite web|title=How much carbon dioxide is produced when different fuels are burned?|work=eia.gov|url=https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=73&t=11|access-date=7 January 2016|url-status=live|archive-date=12 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112095655/http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=73&t=11}}</ref> The emission intensity of coal varies with type and generator technology and exceeds 1200&nbsp;g per kWh in some countries.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tranberg |first1=Bo |last2=Corradi |first2=Olivier |last3=Lajoie |first3=Bruno |last4=Gibon |first4=Thomas |last5=Staffell |first5=Iain |last6=Andresen |first6=Gorm Bruun |year=2019 |title=Real-Time Carbon Accounting Method for the European Electricity Markets |journal=Energy Strategy Reviews |volume=26 |pages=100367 |arxiv=1812.06679 |bibcode=2019EneSR..2600367T |doi=10.1016/j.esr.2019.100367 |s2cid=125361063}}</ref> In 2013, the head of the UN climate agency advised that most of the world's coal reserves should be left in the ground to avoid catastrophic global warming.<ref>{{cite news|title=Leave coal in the ground to avoid climate catastrophe, UN tells industry|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/nov/18/leave-coal-avoid-climate-catastrophe-un|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102164315/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/nov/18/leave-coal-avoid-climate-catastrophe-un|archive-date=2 January 2017|newspaper=The Guardian |date=2013-11-18 |last1=Vidal|first1=John|last2=Readfearn|first2=Graham}}</ref> To keep global warming below 1.5&nbsp;°C or 2&nbsp;°C hundreds, or possibly thousands, of coal-fired power plants will need to be retired early.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/07/we-have-too-many-fossil-fuel-power-plants-to-meet-climate-goals/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702105444/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/07/we-have-too-many-fossil-fuel-power-plants-to-meet-climate-goals/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 July 2019|title=We have too many fossil-fuel power plants to meet climate goals |date=2019-07-01 |website=Environment|language=en|access-date=2019-09-30}}</ref>