Interesting Facts About Coal

• Coal was formed about 300 million years ago.

• Coal is a combustible mostly black sedimentary rock composed mostly of carbon and hydrocarbons.

• Coal takes a million years to create and therefore it belongs to non-renewable energy sources.

• Coal mining uses two methods: surface or underground mining where surface mining is more dominant method because it is less expensive than the underground mining.

• Coal is mostly transported by train.

• Coal as the other fossil fuels as well isn't ecologically acceptable because of CO2 and global warming.

• Coal is classified into four main types: lignite, subbituminous, bituminous, anthracite and the coal value is determined by the amount of the carbon it contains.

• Coal is mined in 27 US states.

• Coal is mainly used for generating electricity (more than 90 % of US coal).

• Coal usually has a negative impact on environment, mining can damage ground and surface waters and when coal burns as the fuel it releases CO2 which is the main greenhouse gas that causes global warming.

• Coal is so called "dirty" energy source because of its negative effect on environment.

• Coal could be the world's most attractive fuel in years to come thanks to the methods of coal purification which are resulting in more cleaner coal, removing sulfur and other dangerous elements.

• Coal is used on the large scale in China and USA.

• Coal can be answer for future only if technology will enable "ultra-clean" coal.

• Coal must be relatively dry before it can be burned successfully.

• World coal consumption is more than 5.3 billion tons annually of which three quarters are used for generating electricity.

• Coal was already used in the Bronze age (Britain).

• Coal's share in the total world electricity production is about 40 %.

• Coal deposits could be enough to satisfy current world energy needs for the next 300 years.

• Coal is getting more attention because of the increased prices of oil and natural gas.

• Coal can be converted like to gasoline or diesel by couple of different processes like for instance the Fischer-Tropsch process, Bergius process and Karrick process.

• Coal is the official state mineral of the Kentucky and official and the official state rock of Utah.

• Coal total reserves are approximately about 1 × 1015 kg or 998 billion tons.

• Coal is mined in more than 100 countries.

• Coal is the main reason for China's economic boost as for China's environmental problems.

• Coal is a combustible mineral formed from the remains of trees, ferns and other decayed plants that existed and died up to 400 million years ago in some cases.

• Coal has been used as an energy source for hundreds of years and was part of international trade in as long ago as the Roman Empire.

• Coal provided the energy which fueled the Industrial Revolution of the 19th Century and also launched the electric era in the 20th Century.

• 37% of the electricity generated worldwide is produced from coal.

• Coal is by far the cheapest source of power fuel per million Btu, averaging less than half the price of petroleum and natural gas.

• The world's iron and steel industry depends on the use of coal.

• The value of coal produced in the United States each year is nearly $20 billion.

• Coal is directly responsible for the existence of more than 90,000 U.S. jobs and nearly one million jobs directly and indirectly.

• Coal mining has a combined direct and indirect impact of $161 billion annually on the U.S. economy. This is $596 for every U.S. citizen.

• The federal government receives more than $11 billion annually in taxes and fees from the coal industry.

• State and local governments receive nearly $9 billion each year in revenues.

• Developing countries' demand for coal will double through 2020, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

• Coal reserves are spread over almost 100 countries. Proven coal reserves are estimated to last over 200 years with current production rates. In contrast, proven oil and gas reserves are equivalent to around 40 and 60 years.

• America's coal is used primarily for the production of electricity.

• There were 315,000 Megawatts (net) of coal-based electrical generating capacity in the United States.

• Some 965 million tons of coal were consumed for the generation of electricity. This amounted to 86% of total U.S. coal production.

• Many large countries contain significant proven reserves of coal. While data quality varies widely, the countries with the greatest estimated recoverable reserves of coal are --

• United States 273 billion tons
• Russia 173 billion tons
• China 126 billion tons
• India 93 billion tons

• Australia 90 billion tons

• Coal was first discovered in what is now West Virginia in 1742 by John Peter Salley in what is now Boone County.

• McDowell County has produced more coal than any other county in West Virginia.

• The coal industry pays approximately $70 million in property taxes annually.

• The Coal Severance Tax adds approximately $214 million into West Virginia's economy.

• Twenty-four million dollars of coal severance taxes collected each year goes directly into the Infrastructure Bond Fund.

• All 55 counties, even the non-coal producing counties receive Coal Severance Tax funds.

• The coal industry payroll is nearly $2 billion per year.

• Coal is responsible for more than $3.5 billion annually in the gross state product.

• The United States produces about 20%, or 1.1 billion tons, of the world's coal supply—second only to China.

• The United States has about a 245-year supply of coal, if it continues using coal at the same rate at which it uses coal today.

• Montana is the state with the most coal reserves (119 billion tons). But Wyoming is the top coal-producing state—it produced about 400 million tons in 2004.

• Texas is the top coal-consuming state. It uses about 100 million tons each year.

• Coal ash, a byproduct of coal combustion, is used as filler for tennis rackets, golf balls, and linoleum.

• U.S. coal deposits contain more energy than that of all the world's oil reserves.

• Each person in the United States uses 3.8 tons of coal each year.

• Coal is the world's most abundant fossil fuel - more plentiful than oil and natural gas. It is second only to oil as a source of energy that we use. Coal is widely used because it's easily obtained, there's lots of it, it's well distributed throughout the world, and it has a high energy content.

• Coal has many important uses, but most significantly in electricity generation, steel and cement manufacture, and industrial process heating.

• Coal provides over 23% of global primary energy needs. It generates around 39% of the world's electricity. Almost 70% of total global steel production is dependent on coal.

• There are four main types of coal and all are found in Canada: anthracite, bituminous, sub-bituminous, and lignite.

• There is more stored energy in Canadian coal than all the country's oil, natural gas, and oil sands combined.

• Canada exports about 28 million tonnes of coal annually to more than 20 countries.

• Canada ranks tenth in the world in total coal reserves with 4 billion tonnes of bituminous coal. That's coal covering a football field to a height of about 4,500 kilometers!

• U.S. coal deposits contain more energy than that of all the world’s oil reserves.

• Coal ash is used as filler for tennis rackets, golf balls, and linoleum.