Author Description

Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Field Trip Guidebooks Series, Volume 173. Worldwide, coal is the most abundant fossil-fuel resource. Low-rank coal (subbituminous and lignite) constitutes 29 percent of the proved recoverable reserves1 in the world and 43 percent of those reserves in the U.S., which contains the greatest proved recoverable reserves of low-rank coals (Table 1)(NCA, 1986). In 1984, 26 percent of the coal produced in the world was lignite, and Germany (DR) led all lignite producers (Table 1). Coal makes up 72 percent of the U.S. fossil-fuel resource; however, it accounts for only 23 percent of the energy consumed (Halbouty, 1988; Tellmann, 1988). Coal production is one of the largest industries in the U.S., where coal is used primarily to generate electricity. In 1987, electric utilities used 78 percent of the domestic production to generate 57 percent of the electricity used in the U.S. (Landmarc, 1988; Tellmann, 1988). Other coal markets include general industry, steel manufacturing, and exportation.