Twenty five coal facts
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- Coal was formed about three hundred million years ago.
- The energy density of coal, i.e. its heating value, is roughly 24 megajoules per kilogram.
- Coal is a readily combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock normally occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds.
- It takes 438 kg (966 lb) of coal to power a 100w lightbulb for one year.
- 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 composed primarily of carbon along with variable quantities of other elements, chiefly sulfur, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen.
- 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, a fossil fuel, is the largest source of energy for the generation of electricity worldwide, as well as one of the largest worldwide anthropogenic sources of carbon dioxide emissions.
- Coal is mined in 27 US states.
- Gross carbon dioxide emissions from coal usage are slightly more than those from petroleum and about double the amount from natural gas.
- World coal consumption was about 6,743,786,000 short tons in 2006 and is expected to increase 48% to 9.98 billion short tons by 2030.
- Coal is so called "dirty" energy source because of its negative effect on environment.
- The USA consumes about 14% of the world total, using 90% of it for generation of electricity.
- 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.
- Coke is a solid carbonaceous residue derived from low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal from which the volatile constituents are driven off by baking in an oven without oxygen at temperatures as high as 1,000 °C (1,832 °F) so that the fixed carbon and residual ash are fused together.
- Coal must be relatively dry before it can be burned successfully.
- Petroleum coke is the solid residue obtained in oil refining, which resembles coke but contains too many impurities to be useful in metallurgical applications.
- 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.
- Some cultures uphold that children who misbehave will receive only a lump of coal from Santa Claus for Christmas in their stockings instead of presents.
- 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 Kentucky and the official state rock of Utah. Both U.S. states have a historic link to coal mining.
- Coal is the main reason for China's economic boost as for China's environmental problems.
