Coal : Black Gold

by Amita Dokhale · Published May 2, 2015 · Updated May 2, 2015

With Government auctioning coal Mines, considering the importance of resource & its relevance in economy I guess we should have good idea about it.

So here I am helping you with the same,

Coal is formed from dead & decay of organic matter which is buried under surface for earth for millions of year, High temperature & pressure under earth converts it into coal.

Coals are classified into three main ranks, or types: lignite, bituminous coal, and anthracite. These classifications are based on the amount of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen present in the coal. Coal is defined as a readily combustible rock containing more than 50% by weight of carbon. Coals other constituents include hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, ash, and sulfur.

Uses :- Coal is the largest source of energy for the generation of electricity worldwide.

Coal is extracted from the ground by coal mining, either underground by shaft mining, or at ground level by open pit mining extraction. Since 1983 the world top coal producer has been China, other large producers are United States, India, European Union and Australia.

The nationalization was done in two phases, the first with the coking coal mines in 1971-72 and then with the non-coking coal mines in 1973.

India has some of the largest reserves of coal in the world (approx. 267 billion tonnes ). The energy derived from coal in India is about twice that of energy derived from Oil, whereas worldwide, energy derived from coal is about 30% less than energy derived from oil.

The top producing states are: