Coal mining has been closed down because of the fact that coal mining is environmentally dangerous and emits a lot of carbon to the atmosphere. Recently, the world has come to be very concerned with the environmental impact of any activity given the degradation that has been caused to the environment by such activities.
Additionally, coal mining proved to be expensive and the industry was unable to support itself in many countries (Merrow 460). On top of that, demand for coal reduced in many sectors as many industries opted to other cheaper sources of energy. For this reason, most of the coal mines have been closed down in many countries.
Therefore, coal mining can be revived if technology could be improved to minimize the carbon emissions to the environment. This could include the carbon capture and storage facilities that could go a long way to reduce the amount of carbon that is emitted to the environment.
Besides being dangerous to the environment, coal mines were dangerous to the miners who sometimes lost their lives in the process (Boardman 210). Given the demand of energy that is ever increasing and the inability to fully exploit the oil reserves present, the demand for energy might exert a lot of pressure on supply and make production of coal feasible.
In addition to that, the cost of producing coal has been a great impediment on the mining of coal and any cost reduction method will be feasible. Therefore, mining of coal can also be revived if technology can be improved such that a method of mining that is cost effective is discovered.
If the coal industry will be able to support itself and depend less on the subsidies from the government then it might be profitable to mine coal again in Europe (Merrow 325). On the other hand, most industries found it economically feasible to import coal rather than use the local one therefore, if a way is found to make the industries buy local coal then coal mining can be profitable.
Marginal concepts have led to the destruction of rain forests in many regions. To begin with, rain forests are a natural resource that is environmental friendly thus, it is not expensive to exploit. Also, rain forests have come out a source of energy that is cheaper to produce and not catastrophic to the environment.
On the same note, it has been insisted that it is marginally profitable to use renewable energy sources and forests have been included in the group of renewable sources of energy (Boardman 114). This has led to the exploitation of rain forests in many places without taking into consideration the future of these forests.
Marginal concepts can be used to conserve instead of destroying natural resources. Firstly, by coming up with less costly ways of extracting oil, the prices of oil will reduce and this will in turn make oil more affordable thus, saving other natural resources that have been destroyed due to high prices of oil like natural forests.
On the same note, coming up with a marginally profitable way of oil extracting might also include environmental friendly methods which will help in conserving the environment and other natural resources. It is important to note that, marginal concepts may also help in coming up with ways of reclaiming the environment after a well has been exhausted thus making it economically viable (Boardman 94).
On top of that, understanding marginal concepts can help in discovery of methods of crude oil extraction and refining that are more efficient and which reduce the amount of oil extracted for a given purpose. This will also help in conserving crude oil as a natural resource.
Works Cited
Boardman, Anthony E. Cost Benefit Analysis: Concepts and Practice. Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons, 2006. Print.
Merrow, Edward W. Industrial Megaprojects: Concepts, Strategies and Practices for Success. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2011. Print.