Old coal train with snow, fjord and mountains, Ny Alesund, Spitsbergen (Svalbard), Arctic, Norway, Scandinavia, Europe

Kurtoskalacs (chimney cake) (stove cake) cooking over coals, Budapest, Hungary, Europe

Giant truck hauling 240 tons of coal in the Black Thunder Opencast Coal Mine in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming, United States of America, North America

Coal is the dirtiest of all fossil fuels the burning of which in power stations is a major contributer to climate change

Fire with coal for the Chinese New Year festival, Great White Pagoda, village of Taihuai, Mount Wutai, Wutai Shan, Five Terrace Mountain, Buddhist centre, town of Taihuai, Shanxi province, China

Prosper Coking Plant, Bottrop, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Prosper Coking Plant, Bottrop, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Scholven coal-fired power station, Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Scholven coal-fired power station, Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Front loader on coal island, inland port in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Faded asparagus field in autumn, in the back the E.ON coal power plant in Gelsenkirchen-Scholven, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Scholven Power Station, a coal-fired power station in Gelsenkirchen-Scholven owned by E.ON, an energy service provider, Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Scholven Power Station, a coal-fired power station in Gelsenkirchen-Scholven owned by E.ON, an energy service provider, Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Scholven Power Station, a coal-fired power station in Gelsenkirchen-Scholven owned by E.ON, an energy service provider, Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Scholven Power Station, a coal-fired power station in Gelsenkirchen-Scholven owned by E.ON, an energy service provider, Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Large wheel loader loading coal, Baralaba Rail Loading Facilities near Moura, Queensland, Australia

Coal-fired power plant Duisburg Walsum, at sunset, evening sky, view from Haniel slagheap in Bottrop, Ruhr area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

The Patriot Coal Corporation's Samples mine, which uses the technique of mountaintop removal to mine coal. The mountain tops are stripped away and dumped in valleys to get at the coal below. The Samples mine has been temporarily closed due to declining de

Scholven Power Station, a coal-fired power station in Gelsenkirchen-Scholven owned by E.ON, an energy service provider, Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Scholven Power Station, a coal-fired power station in Gelsenkirchen-Scholven owned by E.ON, an energy service provider, Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Unesco World Heritage Site, former coal mine Zeche Zollverein, exhibition halls in the former Kohlewaesche, Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Scholven Power Station, a coal-fired power station in Gelsenkirchen-Scholven owned by E.ON, an energy service provider, Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

E.ON coal power plant in Gelsenkirchen-Scholven, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Prosper Coking Plant, Bottrop, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Faded asparagus field in autumn, in the back the E.ON coal power plant in Gelsenkirchen-Scholven, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

E.ON coal power plant in Gelsenkirchen-Scholven, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Faded asparagus field in autumn, in the back the E.ON coal power plant in Gelsenkirchen-Scholven, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Scholven Power Station, a coal-fired power station in Gelsenkirchen-Scholven owned by E.ON, an energy service provider, Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Combined cycle power plant, coal and natural gas, Gersteinwerk plant, RWE Power AG company, Werne-Stockum, Ruhrgebiet area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

E.ON coal power plant in Gelsenkirchen-Scholven, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Bulk carriers, coal cargo on a cargo ship, barge, on the Rhine near Duesseldorf, Rhineland, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Aerial view, Vereinigte Gibraltar mine on the Kemnader reservoir with a Ferris wheel, Schachtzeichen RUHR.2010 art installation, Bochum, Ruhrgebiet region, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Combined cycle power plant, coal and natural gas, Gersteinwerk plant, RWE Power AG company, Werne-Stockum, Ruhrgebiet area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Aerial view, fisheye shot, EON Datteln 4 Power Station, Dortmund-Ems Canal, Datteln, Ruhr Area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

New construction of Block 9 of the GKM Mannheim Power Plant in Mannheim, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Deutschlsnd, Europe

E.ON coal power plant in Gelsenkirchen-Scholven, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Aerial view, fisheye shot, EON Datteln 4 Power Station, Dortmund-Ems Canal, Datteln, Ruhr Area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

E.ON coal power plant in Gelsenkirchen-Scholven, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Scholven Power Station, a coal-fired power station in Gelsenkirchen-Scholven owned by E.ON, an energy service provider, Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Headframe and Malakowturm tower of the former Zeche Nordstern mine in the Nordsternpark, Route der Industriekultur Route of Industrial Heritage, Gelsenkirchen, Ruhrgebiet region, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Heilbronn Power Station, a coal-fired power plant under a cloudy sky near Heilbronn, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, Europe

Mark-E coal-fired power plant, Elverlingsen, Werdohl, Maerkischer Kreis region, Sauerland region, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe, PublicGround

Scholven Power Station, a coal-fired power station in Gelsenkirchen-Scholven owned by E.ON, an energy service provider, Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Scholven Power Station, a coal-fired power station in Gelsenkirchen-Scholven owned by E.ON, an energy service provider, Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Scholven Power Station, a coal-fired power station in Gelsenkirchen-Scholven owned by E.ON, an energy service provider, Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe

Coal-fired power plant in Altbach-Deizisau, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, Europe

Mark-E coal-fired power plant, Elverlingsen, Werdohl, Maerkischer Kreis region, Sauerland region, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, Europe, PublicGround

Black Thunder coal mine on Thunder Basin National Grassland, WY. Mike Hockett and Cary Klein are operationg the Ursa Major drag line. This is the largest operating piece of earth moving equipment in North America and removes about 150 feet of overburden to get to a 70 foot seam of coal. Royalties from the coal on the grassland generation about $30 million a year.

Black Thunder coal mine on Thunder Basin National Grassland, WY. Mike Hockett and Cary Klein are operationg the Ursa Major drag line. This is the largest operating piece of earth moving equipment in North America and removes about 150 feet of overburden to get to a 70 foot seam of coal. Royalties from the coal on the grassland generation about $30 million a year.

Mforo, Tanzania a village near Moshi, Tanzania. Solar Sister entrepreneur Fatma Mziray and her eldest daughter Zainabu Ramadhani, 19 cook lunch in her kitchen house using both a clean cookstove using wood and one using coal. One of her younger daughters, Nasma Ramadhani, age 5 helps out. Fatma Mziray is a Solar Sister entrepreneur who sells both clean cookstoves and solar lanterns. Fatma heard about the cookstoves from a Solar Sister development associate and decided to try one out. The smoke from cooking on her traditional wood stove using firewood was causing her to have a lot of heath problems, her lungs congested her eyes stinging and her doctor told her that she had to stop cooking that way. Some days she felt so bad she couldn't go in to cook. Fatma said, “Cooking for a family, preparing breakfast, lunch and dinner I used to gather a large load of wood every day to use. Now with the new cook stove the same load of wood can last up to three weeks of cooking. “With the extra time I can develop my business. I also have more time for the family. I can monitor my children’s studies. All of this makes for a happier family and a better relationship with my husband. Since using the clean cookstove no one has been sick or gone to the hospital due to flu.” Fatma sees herself helping her community because she no longer sees the people that she has sold cookstoves have red eyes, coughing or sick like they used to be. She has been able to help with the school fees for her children, purchase items for the home and a cow. “What makes me wake up early every morning and take my cookstoves and go to my business is to be able to take my family to school as well as to get food and other family needs.”