Inside tremendous open pit coal mine near Shady Grove, Alabama. Strip mining in southern Appalachia

These are a few clips I took while I had the opportunity to drive through an acitve coal mine in Jefferson County, Alabama, near Birmingham. In this area, coal seams are mined by removing hundreds of feet of rock to get to the beds of coal, which are seldom more than six feet. Much of the coal is used to make electricity. There must be a tremendous amount of energy stored in the coal to compensate for all that goes into getting to it.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• gulf oil spill
• petroleum alternative