How Is Coal Made?

Coal provides the fossil fuel necessary to give electricity to much of the United States and many other lands across the globe, including China. The process of creating coal goes back millions of years and involved ordinary things that were transformed into the element relied on so much today.

History

http://science.nationalgeographic.com/

Hundreds of millions of years ago when dinosaurs walked the earth, vegetation covered a lot of areas because they did not experience the deforestation we have today. During this time, swamp land caused dead plants to avoid natural decay and those plants, along with dead animals, built up onto each other. This material would accumulate and create a substance called peat.

Effects

Through time, peat is pressurized and buried deeper into the ground. This causes oxygen and hydrogen to escape into the atmosphere. When these gases leave, the only thing that remains is the coal. Coal mines are deep shafts that dig down to find this substance that formed so many years earlier.

Identification

Coal is a black solid that is usually broken up into small, rock-shaped pieces. These pieces burn off at a better rate than wood, allowing them to be one of the best sources for generating power.
Some pieces of coal actually feature imprints of the plants that were used to create them. These imprints are what helped scientists prove the origin of coal and where it came from.

Considerations

Deforestation and the industrial world have helped contribute to making coal a nonrenewable energy. Coal could re-form again and help power the world, but the timeframe and scarcity of swamps make this unlikely--and make coal invaluable to our current energy needs. Instead of trying to create an artificial coal, scientists have tried to develop other forms or energy that do not require the use of coal burning.

Geography

http://z.about.com/d/geology/1/0/s/M/peat.jpg

Peat, the first form of coal, can be found at different places around the world. In the United States, peat is found in the Florida Everglades and used as a heating source for homes. Other peat locations include Canada, Russia and Scotland.
The biggest coal producer in the United States has been the state of Wyoming. Other large contributors have been West Virginia, Pennsylvania and other states across the Midwest. Worldwide, China has been one of the biggest producers and consumers of coal.

Resources

• Coal Energy Facts
• World Coal Information
• Coal Overview