We can boil water with natural gas just fine, and without all the destructive effects that using coal causes.

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Consider, for example, a spate of new studies that have found a rather convincing correlation between the presence of small particulate matter (PM2.5, the fine particles blown into the air by road traffic, coal-fired power plants, industrial manufacturing, and residential wood fuel combustion) and both obesity and diabetes.

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All of which is fine and dandy except that, if rigged to the average coal-fired power station, this process might use a quarter of the energy the plant produces.

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Operations at the open coal pit continued, and the company got slapped with a tax fine.

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When he shone a light up through it, he could see fine-grained particles of silica, known as chert, mixed in with what looked like coal.

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The primary alternatives such as coal, oil and natural gas power plants also pose dangers to nearby residents who breathe in fine pollutants released by the combustion of these fuels.

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