Facts about Coal

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coal-471903_640Coal is an alluvial, ignitable rock that contains carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. It is largely used as a fuel source and promises utmost benefits when matched with fuels like, oil, gas. In addition to this, coal is an important fuel facilitating the manufacture of steel, cement and much more industrialized processes. The substantial amount of hard coal and brown coal produced is over 6185 million tonnes (Mt) and 1042 Mt globally. The top 5 coal manufacturing countries include China, USA, India, Australia and South Africa. Based on the receptiveness to withstand pressure & temperature, coal is classified into lignite (brown coal), sub bituminous (steam coal), bituminous (black coal) and anthracite (hard coal).

Fossil fuel provides plentiful benefits

The fossil fuel’s major utilization includes generating electricity, steel and cement production. Totally 6.6 billion tonnes of hard coal and 1 billion tonnes of brown coal were used worldwide in the previous year. Coal consumption greatly enhanced since 2000, the most 5 consumer of coal include China, USA, India, Russia and Japan. These five countries consume 76% of the whole coal source extensively. The different varieties of coal facilitate diverse purposes. Steam coal is mainly used for generating steam-electric power, whereas coking coal corresponds to steel production. Paper manufacturing units, pharmaceutical companies, and refineries rely on coal source to produce several exceptional products, such as carbon fibre, activated carbon, and silicon metal.

Leader in energy supply worldwide

Coal plays a vital role in satisfying almost half of the demand of attributive energy in the past ten years all around the globe. Oil, nuclear energy, and natural gas helps in fulfilling the remaining half of the desired energy. Coal is budding high rapidly, as it is the second greatest fuel source used for energy consumption all-around. The foremost aspect of the emerging coal demand is the power production. Coal power plants attributes to 41% of the total electricity in the world. It also complements to 68% of steel production globally. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has predicted that the mounting demand of coal could double between 2009 and 2035, as there would be a considerable increase in the consumption of electricity and steel.

Ample coal reserves assures to meet the demands

There are about 860 billion tonnes of verified coal reserves and resource in 75 countries globally. Therefore, it is evident that the desired coal for energy production is abundant enough to meet the demand for 118 more years. Coal surpasses oil and gas reserves greatly. Thus, coal is highly anticipated as the world’s most plentiful source of energy. Coal reserves exist in several countries widely. In some parts of the world, namely India, Europe and China coal reserves are larger than the oil or gas reserves.

Guarantees strong economy

The economical growth of every country depends on the use of energy for producing top-notch materials, like steel, aluminium, cement and glass. Since, these supplies are a pre-requisite to boost the infrastructure pertaining to energy, transportation, domestic, and water management. Coal is one-of-a-kind of energy that highly aids in the progress of infrastructure and economy concurrently. Coal is the pioneer component used for manufacturing steel. With respect to that, it largely supports modern infrastructure such as, residential buildings and commercial property.

Coal plays a vital role to manage the gaps between wind and solar powered electricity. To fulfil the enormous overall demand for energy, all the energy sources are essential. Consequently, there is always a question to choose between gas and coal. Mostly both coal and gas are required; by contrast, nuclear energy is opted in some countries. In countries where there is a considerable coal supply, it anticipates to be the ideal fuel for power generation.

Technology advancements for a hazard-free society

Coal mining, like any other plant causes a number of environmental issues, including air, noise and water pollution, soil erosion, etc. Innovative methods like supercritical and ultra supercritical technology integrated in coal mining industry lowers the environmental impacts.

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