And another: REPOST
For us coal newbies, here are definitions from
usoe.k12.ut.us.
Coal is a solid fossil fuel that occurs in four basic types: peat, lignite, bituminous, and anthracite. Peat is the raw material from which coal is made. It is not much more than compressed plant remains. It is used in various areas of the world, especially in the British Isles where it is cut into cubes and dried to be burned in stoves. Lignite is the next step in coal formation. It is low-grade coal and occasionally has remains of unconverted plant material. Bituminous coal is a higher grade coal, containing no unconverted plant remains. It burns cleaner than lignite. Anthracite is metamorphic coal and is the highest grade of coal. It burns the cleanest and gives off the most heat.
Here's a graph that shows worldwide coal reserves:
royal.okanagan.bc.ca
also
eia.doe.gov
Here's a very nice map of the US coal reserves and below is it's associated info:
ket.org
Although 90 percent of the country's coal reserves are concentrated in 10 states, coal in mined in 27 states and can be found in even more. Montana has the most coal, 25 percent of demonstrated reserves. Wyoming, third among states with the most coal, is first in coal output, accounting for 18 percent of annual production.
U.S. coal reserves contain 12 times as much energy as all the oil in Saudi Arabia! A brief look at some numbers explains why coal is the country's most abundant and important energy resource.
According to the United States Geological Survey, we have 1.7 trillion tons of identified coal resources -- coal for which geological evidence and engineering studies provide reliable information about location, rank, quality, and quantity. (Geologists recognize that more coal deposits are likely to be discovered in the future, so they estimate total coal resources could amount to 4 trillion tons.)
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