Mountain Top Remover

Fossil Fuels

(Mountaintop removal)

EQ: What pollutants enter the

atmosphere when we burn

fossil fuels for energy?

MOUNTAIN TOP REMOVAL

1. Clearing – Removing topsoil & vegetation
2. Blasting – Tops of the mountain are exploded
3. Digging – Coal and debris are removed by
using a machine called a dragline

MOUNTAIN TOP REMOVAL

4. Dumping Waste – Waste dumped into nearby
streams/land
5. Processing – Coal is cleaned and processed
6. Reclamation – revegetation and stabilize area

From Coal to Electricity

• Create Heat

– Pulverized coal and air are burned to

create heat

• Water turns to Steam

– Reaches 1000oF and 3500 pound of

pressure

• Steam Turns Turbine

– Steam pushes against turbine blades

which connect to generator and
produce electricity

• Steam Condenses back into Water

– Steam cooled by river/lake water

• Process repeats

Advantages of Using Coal

• Most abundant energy resource
• Low Cost

– Creates price stability

• The USA has the largest recoverable

reserves
– No need to import resources

• Generates almost half the

energy used in the USA

Multiple Select

Some of the consequences of mountaintop removal include:

• Destruction of one of the most biologically diverse forests in the world.

• Landslides

• Poisoned water

• Climate change

Close to Home Locations

• Chesapeake

• North Carolina

• Virginia

Environmental Impacts of Burning

Fossil Fuels

• Water Use

– Uses fresh water for cooling steam
– Draws in fish eggs, larva, and juveniles

• Wastes Generated

– Solid Waste: Ash, Sludge, Toxic Substances
– Most dumped into unlined onsite landfills

Environmental Impacts of Burning

Fossil Fuels

• Air Pollution

– Leading cause of smog, acid rain, global

warming, and air toxics

– Big 6: Ground level Ozone, Particulates, Carbon

Monoxide, Sulfur Dioxide, Nitrogen Oxides, Lead

– Others: Carbon Dioxide,

Mercury, Arsenic,
Volatile Organic Compounds

Multiple Choice

Acid mine drainage causes

• air pollution

• water pollution 

• subsidence

• erosion

Multiple Choice

Which type of mining is used when the ore is near the Earth's surface?

• Strip mining

• Fracking

• Mountaintop removal

• Strip mining and Mountaintop removal

Multiple Choice

What was the purpose of Mountaintop Removal Mining?

• To allow room to build new neighborhoods and schools

• To help prevent old and dead trees from falling on the city

• To make coal removal quicker and easier for miners

• Leveling mountains made it easier to travel

Multiple Choice

What is the process by which rock is broken into fragments called sediments?

• Deposition

• Erosion

• Weathering

• Igneous Rock

Multiple Choice

Rock that forms when pressure and heat change existing rock.

• Igneous Rock

• Sedimentary Rock

• Metamorphic Rock

• Rock Cycle

Multiple Choice

What is the energy source for sedimentary rocks to form?

• Earth's hot interior

• gravity and the sun

• the moon

• magnetism

Multiple Choice

How would a sedimentary rock become an igneous rock?

• weathering and erosion

• melting then cooling and crystallizing

• heat and pressure

• compacting and cementing