Coal Quality: Introduction
A close-up look at a piece of coal.
Coal is used to produce over half of the Nation's electrical energy needs. Increasing demands for clean coal energy make information on affordable and reliable coal supplies essential for consumers, industry, and policy makers. The USGS Energy Resources Program researches and provides studies on the quantity, quality, location, of the Nation’s coal resources and has world class research facilities investigating coal petrology and coal quality. Coal quality studies are useful in identifying concentrations and distributions of sulfur, ash, moisture content, heat values, and other critical trace elements as described in the Clean Air Act and related Amendments.
The laboratory results are maintained in state-of-the art databases and used to address coal extraction, utilization and disposal issues, human health and environmental impact issues, and identify suitable resources for the Nation’s electric power generation.
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U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
