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Coal is mostly carbonwith variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.[1] Coal is a type of fossil fuel, formed when dead plant matterdecays into peatwhich is converted into coal by the heat and pressure of deep burial over millions of years.[2]
Fossil fuel. A fossil fuel[a] is a carbon compound - or hydrocarbon -containing material such as coal, oil, and natural gas, [2] formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants and planktons), a process that occurs within geological formations. Reservoirs of such compound mixtures can be ...
The history of coal mining goes back thousands of years, with early mines documented in ancient China, the Roman Empire and other early historical economies. It became important in the Industrial Revolution of the 19th and 20th centuries, when it was primarily used to power steam engines, heat buildings and generate electricity.
The name Carboniferous means "coal-bearing", from the Latin carbō ("coal") and ferō ("bear, carry"), and refers to the many coal beds formed globally during that time. [8] The first of the modern "system" names, it was coined by geologists William Conybeare and William Phillips in 1822, [9] based on a study of the British rock succession.
Coal mining. Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production.
Anthracite, also known as hard coal and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic lustre. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the highest ranking of coals. The Coal Region of Northeastern Pennsylvania in the United States has the largest ...
Coal gasification. In industrial chemistry, coal gasification is the process of producing syngas —a mixture consisting primarily of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and water vapour (H2O)—from coal and water, air and/or oxygen. Historically, coal was gasified to produce coal gas, also known as "town ...
The history of coal mining in the United States starts with the first commercial use in 1701, within the Manakin-Sabot area of Richmond, Virginia. [1] Coal was the dominant power source in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and although in rapid decline it remains a significant source of energy in 2024.