Talk:Coal

Coal is a former featured article candidate. Please view the links under Article milestones below to see why the nomination was archived. For older candidates, please check the archive.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
September 12, 2006	Featured article candidate	Not promoted

Geology High‑importance

	Geology portal Talk:Coal is part of WikiProject Geology, an attempt at creating a standardized, informative, comprehensive and easy-to-use geology resource. If you would like to participate, you can choose to edit this article, or visit the project page for more information.GeologyWikipedia:WikiProject GeologyTemplate:WikiProject GeologyGeology articles
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.

Energy Top‑importance

	Energy portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Energy, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Energy on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.EnergyWikipedia:WikiProject EnergyTemplate:WikiProject Energyenergy articles
Top	This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale.

Mining High‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Mining, a collaborative project to organize and improve articles related to mining and mineral industries. If you would like to participate, you can edit the attached article, or visit the project page, where you can see a list of open tasks, join in the discussion, or join the project.MiningWikipedia:WikiProject MiningTemplate:WikiProject MiningMining articles
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.

Rocks and minerals High‑importance

	Earth sciences portal Coal is part of WikiProject Rocks and minerals, an attempt at creating a standardized, informative, comprehensive and easy-to-use rocks and minerals resource. If you would like to participate, you can choose to edit this article, or visit the project page for more information.Rocks and mineralsWikipedia:WikiProject Rocks and mineralsTemplate:WikiProject Rocks and mineralsRocks and minerals articles
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.

Environment Top‑importance

	Environment portal This environment-related article is part of the WikiProject Environment to improve Wikipedia's coverage of the environment. The aim is to write neutral and well-referenced articles on environment-related topics, as well as to ensure that environment articles are properly categorized. Read Wikipedia:Contributing FAQ and leave any messages at the project talk page.EnvironmentWikipedia:WikiProject EnvironmentTemplate:WikiProject EnvironmentEnvironment articles
Top	This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale.

Climate change High‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Climate change, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Climate change on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Climate changeWikipedia:WikiProject Climate changeTemplate:WikiProject Climate changeClimate change articles
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.
If you are looking for ways to improve this article, we recommend checking out our recommended sources and our style guide

Archives

Archive 1

Archive 2

Archive 3

This page has archives. Sections older than 90 days may be automatically archived by .

Tip: Anchors are case-sensitive in most browsers.

This article links to one or more target anchors that no longer exist.

[[Pea soup fog#London|London smog]] Anchor Pea soup fog#London links to a specific web page: London. The anchor (#London) is no longer available because it was deleted by a user before.

Please help fix the broken anchors. You can remove this template after fixing the problems. | Reporting errors

needs update but I don't have time

https://www.iea.org/reports/coal-2019#executive-summary

Revisions of May 18-

The following factoids or comments were removed

Although coal is known from most geologic periods, 90% of all coal beds were deposited in the Carboniferous and Permian periods, which represent just 2% of the Earth's geologic history."

so what

"Jet, a compact form of lignite, sometimes polished; used as an ornamental stone since the Upper Palaeolithic"

"ornaments" seem distracting

Fossils and amber may be found in coal.<ref>Poinar GO, Poinar R. (1995) ''The quest for life in amber''. Basic Books, {{ISBN|0-201-48928-7}}, p. 133</ref>

For a big article, these hobbyist details are distracting

when dead plant matter was protected from biodegradation and oxidation, usually by mud or acidic water" removed "biodegradaton".

--Smokefoot (talk) 14:28, 19 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Split proposal

This topic is vast and important. The article is too long. I will remove "Transition away from coal" since we have a article focused on that aspect: coal phase-out

Main recommendation: 1) An article about coal, period. What is it? Where did it come from? Many classifications (rank, grade). What is it used for? 2) The rest: mining (and economics), environmental impacts --Smokefoot (talk) 14:14, 19 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Can you be more specific? There are already articles on coal mining and the health and environmental impact of the coal industry. Also I suggest excerpts, for example of coal phase-out. Chidgk1 (talk) 21:04, 20 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

That would make sense. This should be general and more separate more. FairfieldAve (talk) 01:17, 1 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Agree with the recommendations. Topics related to coal covered by other articles should only be mentioned briefly with a link Ita140188 (talk) 10:28, 7 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I agree the topic is vast and important. There is potential to reduce duplication within the article and move/remove less-important details that can be covered in sub-articles. I can spend some time on this this week. Clayoquot (talk | contribs) 19:50, 28 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Since the "Transition away from coal" section has been removed [1] as proposed, is it OK to remove the "It has been suggested that this article should be split into multiple articles." tag at the top of the article? I think everyone agrees on moving towards WP:Summary style so it might be time to move more towards execution rather than further discussion. Clayoquot (talk | contribs) 21:55, 28 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Major producers/consumers/exporters/importers tables

A lot of space is given to statistics on the countries that are major producers, consumers, exporters, and importers of coal. Some of these tables haven't been updated in over five years. Since this is a broad overview article, I plan to replace them with a few up-to-date sentences. I've copied the content below.

Extended content

Major producers

Countries with an annual production higher than 300 million tonnes are shown.

Production of coal by country and year (million tonnes)^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]
Country	2000	2005	2010	2015	2017	Share (2017)
China	1,384	2,350	3,235	3,747	3,523	46%
India	335	429	574	678	716	9%
United States	974	1,027	984	813	702	9%
Australia	314	375	424	485	481	6%
Indonesia	77	152	275	392	461	6%
Russia	262	298	322	373	411	5%
Rest of World	1,380	1,404	1,441	1,374	1,433	19%
World total	4,726	6,035	7,255	7,862	7,727	100%

Major consumers

Countries with an annual consumption higher than 500 million tonnes are shown. Shares are based on data expressed in tonnes oil equivalent.

Consumption of coal by country and year (million tonnes)^[5]^[6]
Country	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	Share
China	2,691	2,892	3,352	3,677	4,538	4,678	4,539	3,970 coal + 441 met coke = 4,411	3,784 coal + 430 met coke = 4,214	51%
India	582	640	655	715	841	837	880	890 coal + 33 met coke = 923	877 coal + 37 met coke = 914	11%
United States	1,017	904	951	910	889	924	918	724 coal + 12 met coke = 736	663 coal + 10 met coke = 673	9%
World Total	7,636	7,699	8,137	8,640	8,901	9,013	8,907	7,893 coal + 668 met coke = 8561	7,606 coal + 655 met coke = 8261	100%

Major exporters

Exports of coal by country and year (million tonnes)^[7]
Country	2018	2019	2020	2021
Indonesia	408	443	410	434
Australia	382	393	371	366
Russia	212	223	222	238
United States	105	85	63	77
South Africa	80	79	75	66
Colombia	84	72	68	56
Canada	32	36	32	32
Netherlands	30	28	15	27
Kazakhstan	26	26	25	24
Mongolia	36	36	29	20

Exporters are at risk of a reduction in import demand from India and China.^[8]^[9]

Major importers

Imports of coal by country and year (million tonnes)^[10]^[11]
Country	2018
China	281
India	223
Japan	189
South Korea	149
Taiwan	76
Germany	44
Netherlands	44
Turkey	38
Malaysia	34
Thailand	25

Clayoquot (talk | contribs) 20:54, 28 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

References

^ "BP Statistical review of world energy 2012". British Petroleum. Archived from the original (XLS) on 19 June 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
^ "BP Statistical review of world energy 2016" (XLS). British Petroleum. Archived from the original on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
^ "BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2018" (PDF). British Petroleum. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-12-06. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
^ "Global energy data". International Energy Agency.
^ EIA International Energy Annual – Total Coal Consumption (Thousand Short Tons – converted to metric) Archived 9 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Eia.gov. Retrieved on 11 May 2013.
^ Coal Consumption
^ "Primary Coal Exports". US Energy Information Administration. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
^ What Does "Peak Coal" Mean for International Coal Exporters? (PDF). 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-11-01.
^ Overland, Indra; Loginova, Julia (2023-08-01). "The Russian coal industry in an uncertain world: Finally pivoting to Asia?". Energy Research & Social Science. 102: 103150. Bibcode:2023ERSS..10203150O. doi:10.1016/j.erss.2023.103150. ISSN 2214-6296.
^ "Primary Coal Imports". US Energy Information Administration. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
^ "Energy Statistical annual Reports". Taiwan Bureau of Energy, Ministry of Economic Affairs. 4 May 2012. Archived from the original on 29 October 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2020.

Coal power plants, pollution, and abatement/mitigation

As a heads-up, I'm planning to see if I can improve the sections on air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. In recent years there has been a lot of discussion about whether to phase out coal or "unabated coal". There is also a lot of discussion out there about "clean coal". The Coal article should help the reader understand the debates. I plan to bring in some relevant content from Carbon capture and storage and this Factcheck source. I'll try to do this without lengthening the article. Clayoquot (talk | contribs) 22:13, 28 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Underground fires

I've removed the following passages from the "Underground fires" section as I think they're unnecessary detail for an overview article.The examples that have sources are already in Coal seam fire. As for the unsourced example from Tajikstan, I tried to find sourcing and couldn't.

In Centralia, Pennsylvania (a borough located in the Coal Region of the U.S.), an exposed vein of anthracite ignited in 1962 due to a trash fire in the borough landfill, located in an abandoned anthracite strip mine pit. Attempts to extinguish the fire were unsuccessful, and it continues to burn underground to this day. The Australian Burning Mountain was originally believed to be a volcano, but the smoke and ash come from a coal fire that has been burning for some 6,000 years.^[1]

At Kuh i Malik in Yagnob Valley, Tajikistan, coal deposits have been burning for thousands of years, creating vast underground labyrinths full of unique minerals, some of them very beautiful.

The reddish siltstone rock that caps many ridges and buttes in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and in western North Dakota is called porcelanite, which resembles the coal burning waste "clinker" or volcanic "scoria".^[2] Clinker is rock that has been fused by the natural burning of coal. In the Powder River Basin approximately 27 to 54 billion tons of coal burned within the past three million years.^[3] Wild coal fires in the area were reported by the Lewis and Clark Expedition as well as explorers and settlers in the area.^[4]

References

^ "Fire in The Hole". Archived from the original on 14 October 2009. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
^ "North Dakota's Clinker". Archived from the original on 14 September 2005. Retrieved 9 September 2005.
^ "BLM-Environmental Education – The High Plains". Archived from the original on 12 March 2005. Retrieved 9 September 2005.
^ Lyman, Robert M.; Volkmer, John E. (March 2001). "Pyrophoricity (spontaneous combustion) of Powder River Basin coals: Considerations for coalbed methane development" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 September 2005. Retrieved 9 September 2005.

Clayoquot (talk | contribs) 20:10, 29 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

[BPReview2011-1] "BP Statistical review of world energy 2012". British Petroleum. Archived from the original (XLS) on 19 June 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2011.

[BPReview2016-2] "BP Statistical review of world energy 2016" (XLS). British Petroleum. Archived from the original on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2017.

[BP2018-3] "BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2018" (PDF). British Petroleum. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-12-06. Retrieved 6 December 2018.

[IEAstats-4] "Global energy data". International Energy Agency.

[5] EIA International Energy Annual – Total Coal Consumption (Thousand Short Tons – converted to metric) Archived 9 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Eia.gov. Retrieved on 11 May 2013.

[6] Coal Consumption

[7] "Primary Coal Exports". US Energy Information Administration. Retrieved 12 May 2023.

[IDDRI-8] What Does "Peak Coal" Mean for International Coal Exporters? (PDF). 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-11-01.

[Overland-2023-9] Overland, Indra; Loginova, Julia (2023-08-01). "The Russian coal industry in an uncertain world: Finally pivoting to Asia?". Energy Research & Social Science. 102: 103150. Bibcode:2023ERSS..10203150O. doi:10.1016/j.erss.2023.103150. ISSN 2214-6296.

[10] "Primary Coal Imports". US Energy Information Administration. Retrieved 26 July 2020.

[11] "Energy Statistical annual Reports". Taiwan Bureau of Energy, Ministry of Economic Affairs. 4 May 2012. Archived from the original on 29 October 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2020.

[12] "Fire in The Hole". Archived from the original on 14 October 2009. Retrieved 5 June 2011.

[13] "North Dakota's Clinker". Archived from the original on 14 September 2005. Retrieved 9 September 2005.

[14] "BLM-Environmental Education – The High Plains". Archived from the original on 12 March 2005. Retrieved 9 September 2005.

[15] Lyman, Robert M.; Volkmer, John E. (March 2001). "Pyrophoricity (spontaneous combustion) of Powder River Basin coals: Considerations for coalbed methane development" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 September 2005. Retrieved 9 September 2005.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]