1. Earth’s Changing Environment Lecture 8 Global and US Fossil Fuel Resources: Coal

2. Fossil Fuels Formed 50 million to 350 million years ago from plants and animals. Fuels Petroleum Natural Gas Coal Shale Oil Tar Sands

3. US Coal Consumption Coal 22 QBtu (23%) 80% used by electric utilities

4. Major Coal-Producing States

5. Coal

6. Carbon, water, impurities C + O 2  CO 2

7. Coal Anthracite 22 – 28 million Btu per ton Not plentiful Bituminous 19 – 30 million Btu per ton Most plentiful Subbituminous 16 – 24 million Btu per ton Low sulfur content Lignite (Brown Coal) 9 – 17 million Btu per ton Local value only

8. Coal Resources and Consumption Global Recoverable 1,000 billion tons Global Consumption 5.2 billion tons/year US Recoverable 274 billion tons US Consumption 1.1 billion tons/year

9. Global Coal Resources United States 25% Russia 16% China 12% India 9% Australia 8% Germany 7% South Africa 5%