Coal Facts

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

  • 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.

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

  • 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.

Coal Facts
Energy Facts
Understanding Energy

It's important to understand what coal is and what it is not, the historical context of coal around the world, and where we will get our coal in the future. You will find the most current energy facts on this website.

Coal 101

Coal is a fossil fuel formed in ecosystems where plant remains were preserved by water and mud from oxidization and biodegradation, and which its chemical and physical properties have been changed as a result of geological action over time, thus sequestering atmospheric carbon. Coal is a readily combustible black or brownish-black rock.

Coal is the largest source of fuel for the generation of electricity worldwide, as well as the largest worldwide source of carbon dioxide emissions.

The first documented mining of coal in the United States was 50 tons dug in 1748. Today the United States produces over one billion tons per year.

Coal 201

Outcrop coal was used in Britain during the Bronze Age (2000-3000 years BC), where it has been detected as forming part of the composition of funeral pyres. The earliest recognized use is from the Shenyang area 4000 BC where Neolithic inhabitants had begun carving ornaments from black lignite, but it was not until the Han Dynasty that coal was also used for fuel.

Scientists believe that during the Carboniferous period (280 to 345 million years ago) large amounts of plant life and other organic matter grew in the swampy areas and lagoons that covered much of the earth. As the plants and other life forms died, they drifted down to the bottom of the swamps, slowly decomposed, and formed peat—a soggy, spongelike material. The peat became buried and compressed under the earth's surfaces over a long period of time. Over millions of years and through the forces of heat and pressure, the compressed peat became coal. The greater the heat and pressure, the harder the coal was that formed.