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Advantages
Coal can be found in lots of places in the world and there is still plenty in the UK. Coal can be easily transported to the power stations. Coal is a relatively cheap energy source.
Disdvantages
To dig up coal, we have to create mines which can be dangerous and not very nice to look at. Transporting coal by lorry and train from the mine to the power station causes pollution. Burning coal produces polluting gases like sulphur dioxide which make acid rain. Of all energy sources, burning coal releases the most greenhouse gases which may add to global warming. Coal is a non-renewable source and will run out in about 100 years. Coal miners can be affected by black lung disease or pneumoconiosis and also emphysema if they breathe in too much of the coal dust.
Disdvantages
Environmental damage can be caused when building the rig and by accidental oil spillages. Oil and gas are not renewable, so once the supplies are used, they will run out. Burning these fuels releases greenhouse gases into the air. This may add to global warming. The price of oil and gas will increase because supplies are running out and lots of people will want it Working on an oil or gas rig can be dangerous due to the risk of explosions and bad weather.
Nuclear
Advantages
Nuclear fuel does not make harmful greenhouse gases. You only need a very small amount of nuclear fuel to make a lot of energy
Disdvantages
The waste that is produced when using nuclear fuel is radioactive and very harmful. It needs to be disposed of carefully Nuclear power stations are at risk from terrorist attack and sabotage. World uranium supplies may run out in about 50 years.
Science and technology can cure your diseases, provide shelter and food for crowds of people, enable the creation of large cities to allow collaboration in enterprises, and perhaps even more. However an increase in mechanisation and automation has reduced the amount of work people are required to do to survive / gain nutrition. To the point where people may be almost entirely sedentary. That combined with the increase in processed high fat high calorie foods has led to problems in developed countries of obesity, heart disease and related problems. Military technology makes it quicker and more efficient to kill people than ever before, which directly gives a shorter lifespan. The indirect consequences of military technology are less clear -- it may be that people using the military technology to better defend themselves may live longer than they otherwise would have, and over the long term the threat of extinction from superweapons may cause nations to go to war much less often than in the times of the Caesar. It may also be worth considering the fact that a lot of the improvements in technology and medicine are ultimately derived from the vast R+D budgets applied to the design of military equipment or through the medical treatment of those people injured during war. Some broad examples include the development of plastic / reconstructive surgery to treat disfigured soldiers who had been injured in World War one. More recent examples include the development of new dressings which are much better at stemming blood loss and were introduced into service by the British Army in 2006 during the Afghan conflict and greatly reduce the risk of soldiers dying on the battlefield from blood loss before they reach medical facilities. Other improvements in methods are detailed in the related links. Ultimately as a large number of doctors in the British Armed forces are part of the Territorial army - What in other armed forces are referred to as reserves or National guardsman, they go back to their medical jobs in British Hospitals in the NHS and what they have learned filters down into the treatment of accident victims at home away from the battlefield. Another obvious innovation is most likely the screen your currently looking at, along ultimately with the computer technology you are using. A significant portion of the initial R&D budget for Flat panel LCD screens was provided by the military as they are significantly lighter and smaller than the CRT screens they replaced. This was of great importance as these screens form a major part of the display of information in modern combat and civilian aircraft. As the technology matured, the costs dropped and they became affordable for home use. Now the vast majority of people use a flat screen LCD monitor or television over the older CRT screens. The first digital programmable electronic computers were developed during World War two (known as the Colossus machines) to help decipher encrypted German messages and most likely helped the Allies win World War Two.