Formed from fossilised plants and consisting of carbon. Mined
from seams of coal, found squashed between layers of rock in the earth. Burnt
to provide heat or electricity.

People use coal to generate power. This power has
served various purposes over the years, from powering steam engines to warming
homes to providing electricity for manufacturing. Though many people understand
generally what coal is, few understand the actual characteristics of coal.

Texture-Traditionally, people think of coal as a hard rock. In actually, coal can be quite brittle and, in some cases, even spongy. As with color, the texture of coal typically reflects its age. Harder coals reflect years and years of compacting, while softer and lighter coals still maintain some of the pockets of air and other materials that have yet to be squeezed out of them.

Colour-Though most people typically associate coal with the color black, coal can range in colors from shiny silver to green. Coal's color typically relates to its specific forms, which in turn relate to how "new" the coal is. A deep-black color indicates that the coal is quite old -- darkened and compacted by millions of years of pressure. Lighter browns and greens indicate young coal that is as of yet compacted and darkened by the tremendous pressure of the earth's surface and gravity.

Advantages -

-Ready made fuel.

-It is fairly cheap to supply and to change into energy.

-Coal supply will last longer than gas and oil.

Disadvantages-

-When burned coal gives off atmospheric pollutants,
including greenhouse gases

- It is a non-renewable fuel therefore at sometime it will run out, it is estimated it will run out in 250 years .

Coal is made largely of Crabon but also features other elements such as hydrogen, oxygen, sulphur and nitrogen. Coal starts of as plant matter at the bottom of the ocean. Different types of coal contain different amounts of carbon. Eg. Lignite contains only around 60-75%, while anthracite contains more than 92%.

 Some examples of coal are: anthracite, bituminous, subbituminous and lignite.

The earliest reference to the use of coal in metalworking is found in the geological treatise on stones by the greek scientist Theophrastus.

-Coal is a ready made fuel.

-Coal is relativley cheap to mine and convert in to energy.

-Coal supplies with last longer than Oil or Gas supplies.

There are also disadvantages of using coal too. A disadvantage is that when burning coal it gives off atmospheric pollutants, including greenhouse gases. Also coal is a non-renewable resource, or fossil fuel.

There are four main types of coal;

Lignite coal-This is a brownish-black coal with high moisture and ash content, which has the lowest heating value of the four types of coal. It is considered an “immature” coal that is still soft. It is used for generating electricity.

Subbituminouscoal-This is a dull black coal with a higher heating value than lignite, and is used principally for electricity and space heating.

Bituminous coal-This is the most common type in the United States, accounting for over 50% of the demonstrated reserve base.  It is the most commonly used type of coal for electric powewr generation in the United States.  It is a dark, hard coal that has a higher heating value than lignite and subbituminous coal, but a lower heating value than anthracite.

Anthracite coal-This is also known as "hard coal" that was formed from bituminous coal under increased pressures in rock strata during the creation of mountain ranges. In the United States, it is located primarily in the Appalachian region of Pennsylvania. It is very hard and shiny. This type of coal is the most compact and therefore, has the highest energy content of the four levels of coal. It is used for space heating and generating electricity. It makes up only 1.5% of the demonstrated reserve base for coal in the United States.

It was once heavily used to heat homes and power factories/stations.It is a solid fossil fuel that is formed over millions of years by decay of land vegetation, it non renewable fuel as it releases greenhouse gases when burned. Coal has visable pours and layers and is normally a black/brown colour. Coal has many different forms e.g. lignite, anthoacite and graphite.Coal, the first fossil fuel exploited by humans for energy on a large scale, is a carbonaceous rock formed from buried plants in ancient forests or swamps.Coal dust and methane gas (which is commonly found along with coal) raise significant risks of explosions.  Worldwide, several thousand miners on average die each year in coal mining-related accidents.