As of January 2020, the United States has the largest recoverable coal reserves with an estimated 252 billion short tons of coal remaining, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
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What are the types of coal?
There are four major types (or “ranks”) of coal. Rank refers to steps in a slow, natural process called “coalification,” during which buried plant matter changes into an ever denser, drier, more carbon-rich, and harder material. The four ranks are: Anthracite: The highest rank of coal. It is a hard, brittle, and black lustrous coal, often referred to as hard coal, containing a high percentage of...
What is coal used for?
Coal is primarily used as fuel to generate electric power in the United States. In coal-fired power plants, bituminous coal, subbituminous coal, or lignite is burned. The heat produced by the combustion of the coal is used to convert water into high-pressure steam, which drives a turbine, which produces electricity. In 2019, about 23 percent of all electricity in the United States was generated by...
What is coal?
Coal is a sedimentary deposit composed predominantly of carbon that is readily combustible. Coal is black or brownish-black, and has a composition that (including inherent moisture) consists of more than 50 percent by weight and more than 70 percent by volume of carbonaceous material. It is formed from plant remains that have been compacted, hardened, chemically altered, and metamorphosed by heat...
What is the biggest coal deposit in the United States?
The biggest coal deposit by volume is the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana, which the USGS estimated to have 1.07 trillion short tons of in-place coal resources, 162 billion short tons of recoverable coal resources, and 25 billion short tons of economic coal resources (also called reserves) in 2013. The coal in the Powder River Basin is subbituminous in rank. Large coal deposits can also...
Assessing U.S. coal resources and reserves
Coal geology and assessment of coal resources and reserves in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming and Montana
Assessment of coal geology, resources, and reserves in the Montana Powder River Basin
Coal fields of the conterminous United States—National Coal Resource Assessment updated version
Coal-A complex natural resource: An overview of factors affecting coal quality and use in the United States With a contribution on coal quality and public health
The National Coal Resources Data System: A status report
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What are the types of coal?
There are four major types (or “ranks”) of coal. Rank refers to steps in a slow, natural process called “coalification,” during which buried plant matter changes into an ever denser, drier, more carbon-rich, and harder material. The four ranks are: Anthracite: The highest rank of coal. It is a hard, brittle, and black lustrous coal, often referred to as hard coal, containing a high percentage of...
What is coal used for?
Coal is primarily used as fuel to generate electric power in the United States. In coal-fired power plants, bituminous coal, subbituminous coal, or lignite is burned. The heat produced by the combustion of the coal is used to convert water into high-pressure steam, which drives a turbine, which produces electricity. In 2019, about 23 percent of all electricity in the United States was generated by...
What is coal?
Coal is a sedimentary deposit composed predominantly of carbon that is readily combustible. Coal is black or brownish-black, and has a composition that (including inherent moisture) consists of more than 50 percent by weight and more than 70 percent by volume of carbonaceous material. It is formed from plant remains that have been compacted, hardened, chemically altered, and metamorphosed by heat...
What is the biggest coal deposit in the United States?
The biggest coal deposit by volume is the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana, which the USGS estimated to have 1.07 trillion short tons of in-place coal resources, 162 billion short tons of recoverable coal resources, and 25 billion short tons of economic coal resources (also called reserves) in 2013. The coal in the Powder River Basin is subbituminous in rank. Large coal deposits can also...
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Assessing U.S. coal resources and reserves
The U.S. Coal Resources and Reserves Assessment Project, as part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Energy Resources Program, conducts systematic, geology-based, regional assessments of significant coal beds in major coal basins in the United States. These assessments detail the quantity, quality, location, and economic potential of the Nation’s remaining coal resources and reserves and provideAuthorsBrian N. ShafferCoal geology and assessment of coal resources and reserves in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming and Montana
This report presents the final results of the first assessment of both coal resources and reserves for all significant coal beds in the entire Powder River Basin, northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana. The basin covers about 19,500 square miles, exclusive of the part of the basin within the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservations in Montana. The Powder River Basin, which contains thAuthorsJames A. Luppens, David C. Scott, Jon Haacke, Lee M. Osmonson, Paul E. PierceAssessment of coal geology, resources, and reserves in the Montana Powder River Basin
The purpose of this report is to summarize geology, coal resources, and coal reserves in the Montana Powder River Basin assessment area in southeastern Montana. This report represents the fourth assessment area within the Powder River Basin to be evaluated in the continuing U.S. Geological Survey regional coal assessment program. There are four active coal mines in the Montana Powder River Basin aAuthorsJon E. Haacke, David C. Scott, Lee M. Osmonson, James A. Luppens, Paul E. Pierce, Jay A. GundersonCoal fields of the conterminous United States—National Coal Resource Assessment updated version
This map sheet with accompanying Geographic Information System (GIS) project is an update of the existing U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Conterminous U.S. Coal Fields map. This update was compiled using data primarily from the USGS National Coal Resource Assessment (NCRA) and information from other published maps. The five regions examined by NCRA (Eastern, Gulf Coast, Interior, Rocky Mountain, andAuthorsJoseph A. EastCoal-A complex natural resource: An overview of factors affecting coal quality and use in the United States With a contribution on coal quality and public health
No abstract available.AuthorsStanley P. Schweinfurth, Robert B. FinkelmanThe National Coal Resources Data System: A status report
The National Coal Resources Data System (NCRDS) of the U.S. Geological Survey is an interactive computerized storage, retrieval, and display system to assess the quantity and quality of the nation's coal resources. It has been developed to provide geological coal-resource data currently available, to update that data, and to expand to new types of data.To this end the U.S. Geological Survey has inAuthorsM. Devereaux Carter, Antoinette L. Medlin, Kathleen K. Krohn - News