coal

Also known as carbone

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as layers called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. It is a fossil fuel, formed when plants decay into peat which is converted into coal by the heat and pressure of deep burial over millions of years. Vast deposits formed from wetlands called coal forests that covered much of the tropics during the late Carboniferous and early Permian.

AI overview

Coal is a dark, combustible rock formed from ancient plants that decayed into peat and were transformed by heat and pressure over millions of years, composed mainly of carbon along with hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. It matters because it is a fossil fuel that has historically been a major energy source, though vast deposits from prehistoric tropical wetlands took millions of years to form and are now being consumed much more rapidly than they were created.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Key facts

Rock.name: Coal
Rock.type: Sedimentary
Rock.image: Bituminous Coal.JPG
Rock.image_caption: Bituminous coal, the most common coal grade
Rock.image_size: 258px
Rock.composition: carbon

via Wikipedia infobox

Research

44,374 papers

via PubMed

Wikidata facts

Image: Coal (Anthracite).JPG

Show 4 more facts

Commons category: Coal
Commons gallery: Coal
OpenStreetMap tag: resource=coal
exact match: purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_02000091

Sources (8)

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~45 min read

Article

36 sections

Contents

Etymology
Formation of coal
Chemistry of coalification
Macerals
Types
History
Composition
Uses
Electricity generation
Coke
Production of chemicals
Liquefaction
Gasification
Coal industry
Mining
As a traded commodity
Market trends
Damage to human health{{anchor|Health_effects}}
Damage to the environment
Climate change
Underground fires
Pollution mitigation and carbon capture
Precombustion treatment
Post combustion approaches
Carbon capture and storage
"Clean coal" and "abated coal"
Economics
Subsidies
Stranded assets
Politics
Cultural usage
See also
Notes
References
Further reading
External links

Coal is used primarily as a fuel. While coal has been known and used for thousands of years, its usage was limited until the Industrial Revolution. With the invention of the steam engine, coal consumption increased. In 2020, coal supplied about a quarter of the world's primary energy and over a third of its electricity. Some iron and steel-making and other industrial processes burn coal.