as clean as coal

Many people think nothing is cleaner than electricity. Some yearn for electric cars, while others forgo gas-driven tools for electric ones. There is less noise, no emissions, and nothing but clean useful energy. Or is there?

The US produces 25% of all electricity worldwide. It is followed by China and Russia. All three countries are similar in that the majority of their electricity is generated from coal. It is cheap according to economists, who never factor in the cost of pollution. Coal as a source of electricity is predicted to increase its share in the coming decade. That is mostly because China builds about one power plant a month, most of them driven by coal. By 2020 coal will  play a more prominent role than it already does, while renewables will be less important.

49.7% of US electricity comes from coal. Only 19.3% is nuclear energy and 6.7% is hydro-electric. "Other sources," such as solar, windmills, and waste recycling make up 2.9%. In contrast, France generates 78.1% of its electricity from nuclear power, and only 3.9% from coal.

Whatever you may think about nuclear power, consider the following. Coal contains minute amounts of radioactive material and burning it in very large quantities releases these radioactive substances into the air. Radioactive contamination from burning coal is higher than that of a nuclear power station, where radioactive materials are tightly controlled and stored rather than released into the air we all breathe.

And just how much coal do we burn? In the first half of 2007, US power generation burned 603,228,000 tons of coal, up 1.7% from the first half of 2006. 40% of that power or 139,300 kWh per month went to residential customers. A slightly lower amount of 127,504 went to commercial users. Industry consumed only 85,300 kWh.

Because coal releases carbon that was stored in the earth millions of years ago, it is a major contributor to CO2, a greenhouse gas. And that is probably the "cleanest" part of coal. Coal also contains heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic, and others. Burning coal vaporizes all these elements and releases them into the atmosphere. You may be worried about lead paint on your children's toys, but do you worry about leaving the lights on and releasing mercury?

It is often said that individuals can do little to affect global warming. These numbers show that this is blatantly false. Consumers have control over more than half the electricity produced in the country. 40% is in their homes and another 35% in the businesses where they work. What will it take to teach people to turn off their lights?

Consumers also indirectly control what happens in the world. Most of China's output is cheap consumer products that US consumers eagerly snap up to save a few dollars here and there. These products are a double whammy for the environment. Not only are they driving countries like China to build new and dirty power plants, they also have to shipped half way across the globe, adding even more pollution.

You could use the money you save from turning off your lights to buy locally produced goods. That way you would do the environment a favor twice over. Think about it this holiday season.