coal

n.

1. 1. A natural dark brown to black graphitelike material used as a fuel, formed from fossilized plants and consisting of amorphous carbon with various organic and some inorganic compounds.
   2. A piece of this substance.
2. A glowing or charred piece of solid fuel.
3. Charcoal.

v., coaled, coal·ing, coals.

v.tr.

1. To burn (a combustible solid) to a charcoal residue.
2. To provide with coal.

v.intr.
To take on coal.

[Middle English col, from Old English.]

coal

For more information on coal, visit Britannica.com.

A lucky substance. It is regularly brought as one of the traditional gifts in first footing on New Year's Eve; some say this guarantees a warm hearth for the year, others that the main point is ‘black for good luck’ (cf. black). In Herefordshire around 1900, ‘a box of coal and a plate of salt should be the first things taken into an empty house, before moving any furniture in’ (Leather, 1912: 86). There are references from the 1950s to the luck of carrying a lump of coal in one's pocket, and to making a wish when picking one up in the road and throwing it over one's shoulder (Opie and Tatem, 1989: 89); now that coal fires are so rare, these customs must have died out.

See also MIDSUMMER COAL.

Coal is a major source of energy in the United States. It formed as the legacy of trees and plants that grew in primeval swamps and forests. For millions of years, the debris of these jungles accumulated in shallow water or in boggy soil, decayed, and was converted into peat bogs. The mountain-building era subjected these bogs to extreme pressures as well as to the internal heat of the earth. The combination of these factors transformed the peat into coal. Coal has the same chemical composition as diamonds and is sometimes referred to as "black diamonds."

The conversion of peat into coal is estimated by geologists to have taken hundreds of thousands of years.

Bituminous coal is the most abundant type of coal in the United States and the one most commonly used for power generation, heating, and industrial purposes. Nearly all eastern bituminous coals have "coking" properties. Coking is a heating process that breaks down coal, leaving the relatively pure carbon needed for metallurgy. Many western bituminous coals are noncoking, or "free burning." Bituminous coals used in the coking process are heated in a sealed oven. After the volatile liquids and gases have been driven off, the coke, a porous, dull-gray mass, remains. The by-products driven off during the carbonization process, consisting of gases, light oils, and tar, have many important uses in the chemical industry.

The only source for anthracite coal, which is a clean-burning coal with little volatile matter, is northeastern Pennsylvania, although history records small deposits in Rhode Island during the early nineteenth century. Anthracite production peaked during 1917, when 100 million tons were produced and nearly 150,000 miners toiled to reach that tonnage. Another peak was reached in 1944 when 64 million tons were produced with a workforce of 78,000 men. After that time, the consumption of anthracite coal declined; by 1973 only 6,000 men were employed in the industry. Similar statistics for the bituminous coal industry record the first peak in production in 1918, when 550 million tons were mined with a labor force of 615,000. The maximum production by the industry occurred in 1947, when 630 million tons were produced with a labor force of 420,000 miners. In 1974 approximately 590 million tons of coal were produced with a labor force of only 125,000 miners.

The coal-producing areas of the United States are divided into six large provinces: the Eastern province, the Interior province, the Gulf province, the Northern Plains province, the Rocky Mountain province, and the Pacific Coast province. Coal mining activity migrated west ward from its eighteenth-century beginnings in the Eastern province, and significant production was reported from the Interior province during the 1830s. By the late 1850s the Pacific Coast province was producing significant amounts of coal, as was the Gulf province in the late 1860s. The Rocky Mountain province began producing well into the mid-1870s and the Northern Plains province in the late 1870s.

The Eastern, or Appalachian, field, after its modest beginning as a small mine along the Monongahela River opposite Fort Pitt (now Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), in 1760, became the most important source of bituminous coal for the nation. Beginning in western Pennsylvania, it extends southwesterly into Alabama and contains large mining operations in the states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and Alabama. Pennsylvania was for many years the largest producer of coal in the province, but after 1946 it was superseded by West Virginia. The Eastern province was responsible for approximately two-thirds of the total coal produced in the United States in the mid-1970s.

West of the Appalachian field is the Interior province, which is subdivided into eastern and western portions. The eastern portion includes deposits through most of Illinois, western Indiana, and western Kentucky; the western portion covers deposits in Iowa, Missouri, eastern Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Two isolated fields included in the Interior province are in Texas and central Michigan.

The Eastern and Interior provinces have always furnished most of the coal produced in the United States and contain the largest reserves of coking coals. The coal-fields found in the other provinces contain the largest percentage of reserves on a tonnage basis but consist mainly of subbituminous coals and lignites. With lower-grade coals and locations remote from major consuming industries, they have not been extensively developed, although development is assured in the ever-pressing need for additional energy supplies.

Scientists evaluate a region's coal supply by measuring its reserves and resources. Reserves are the amount of coal that is commercially accessible and can be readily mined. Resources are the total amount of coal in a region, whether or not it is accessible. In 2002, the total U.S. estimated recoverable coal reserves was some 274 billion short tons, while U.S. coal production for 2001 was approximately 1.1 billion short tons. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated in 1997 that the identified resources of U.S. coal were some 1,731 billion short tons. With improved technological innovations and increased efficiency in mining methods, these reserves and resources could be greatly extended.

Coal is mined by two principal methods, underground and surface operations, and both practices are widely used in the United States. Coal seams within two hundred feet of the earth's surface are generally more adaptable to surface mining methods, although attention must also be paid to the content and thickness of the over-burden (rock and other material) on the coal seam and to the thickness of the seam. Strip mining is often used to mine surface coal. In this method, huge earth-moving machines strip away areas of vegetation, and explosives shatter sedimentary rock to access underlying coal deposits. Area and contour mining methods allow for strip mining of hilly areas, as machines move away landscape and slice large cuts into a hillside to access coal. Giant augers that bore into hillsides and throw out buried coal are also used on rough terrain. In the late 1990s, coal mining companies started using global positioning system (GPS) and satellite technology to track mines and machinery and increase their efficiency.

Mechanization of underground mining operations received its greatest impetus with the introduction of Joy loading machines in the early 1920s. Earlier attempts to introduce machinery to the industry proved unsuccessful except for the first successful undercutting machine, introduced in 1877. The introduction of rubber-tired haulage units in 1936 gave further impetus to mechanization, and during the late 1940s total mechanization of underground operations was becoming a reality. Mechanization of mining operations increased significantly after World War II, with a trend toward larger capacity machinery and the elimination of many laborious manual operations. Improved under ground machinery has led to continuous mining. U.S. coal production rose rapidly during the nineteenth century, from an annual production in 1800 of approximately 120,000 tons to approximately 265 million tons by 1900. The average output per man per day exceeded twenty tons, a significant increase over the five ton average prior to extensive mechanization.

The U.S. coal industry has been subjected to labor unrest, loss of important markets, and most importantly, has exposed workers to tremendous dangers. Under-ground coal miners were constantly exposed to dangerous gases such as explosive methane and poisonous carbon monoxide. After a mine explosion in the 1800s, miners took to releasing a canary into mine shafts to test for poisonous gases before entering. If the canary did not return, miners improved ventilation systems down the shaft. The coal dust produced in the blasts and hauling was also extremely flammable and harmful to miners' lungs. Prolonged inhalation of coal dusts produces pneumoconiosis, or black lung disease, as well as a number of other problems, such as heart disease, emphysema, and cancer. Mining protests and labor activism in the 1900s brought about much reform in mining conditions.

The environmental impact of recovering coal increased concern over mining methods during the late twentieth century. Strip mining destroys large areas of vegetation and habitat, leaving them exposed to erosion. The waste products of strip mining create acid drainage that combines with oxygen in water and air to create sulfuric acid, polluting water and contaminating soil. Burning coal produces greenhouse gases that trap heat in the earth's atmosphere and lead to Global Warming. Sulfur dioxide emissions combine with water and oxygen in air to form Acid Rain. Since the U.S. Clean Air Act passed in 1970, and was revised in 1990, industries that burn coal are required to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and sulfur to safer levels. Coal mining companies are required to submit detailed reports of mining plans to ensure minimal destruction of the environment. In 1986 the U.S. government and private industry began working together through the Clean Coal Technology Program to find cleaner, more efficient methods of mining coal and using its energy.

Bibliography

Blatz, Perry K. Democratic Miners: Work and Labor Relations in the Anthracite Coal Industry, 1875–1925. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994.

Bowman, John R. Capitalist Collective Action: Competition, Cooperation, and Conflict in the Coal Industry. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989.

Dix, Keith. What's a Coal Miner to Do?: The Mechanization of Coal Mining. Pittsburg, Pa.: University of Pittsburg Press, 1988.

Fishback, Price V. Soft Coal, Hard Choices: The Economic Welfare of Bituminous Coal Miners, 1890–1930. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.

Seltzer, Curtis. Fire in the Hole: Miners and Managers in the American Coal Industry. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1985.

—J. H. Hoffman/H. S.

IN BRIEF: A black mineral that is burned as a fuel.

The coal miners were covered in soot after a long day of work.

Tutor's tip: "Coal" is a mineral used as fuel, while "cole" means various plants in the mustard family.

Coal

Dansk (Danish)
n. - kul, kulstykke, glød
v. tr. - forsyne med kul
v. intr. - tage kul ind

idioms:

• coal mine    kulmine
• coal oil    råolie, petroleum
• coal scuttle    kulspand
• coal tar    kultjære
• coals to Newcastle    hvedebrød til bagerbørn

Nederlands (Dutch)
(steen)kool, steenkool innemen/toevoeren

Français (French)
n. - charbon
v. tr. - ravitailler (qch) en charbon
v. intr. - (Naut) charbonner

idioms:

• coal mine    mine de charbon
• coal oil    (US) kérosène, huile lourde de houille
• coal scuttle    seau à charbon
• coal tar    coaltar, goudron
• coals to Newcastle    porter de l'eau à la rivière

Deutsch (German)
n. - Kohle, Steinkohle
v. - zu Kohle brennen, (naut) Kohle einnehmen (als Brennstoff)

idioms:

• coal mine    Kohlenbergwerk, Steinkohlenbergwerk
• coal oil    Kohlenöl
• coal scuttle    Kohleneimer, Kohlenschütte
• coal tar    Steinkohlenteer
• coals to Newcastle    Eulen nach Athen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - κάρβουνο, γαιάνθρακας

idioms:

• coal mine    ανθρακωρυχείο
• coal oil    (χημ.) ανθρακέλαιο
• coal scuttle    δοχείο τροφοδοσίας κάρβουνου
• coal tar    ανθρακάσφαλτος, γαιανθρακόπισσα
• coals to Newcastle    κομίζω γλαύκα εις Αθήνας

Italiano (Italian)
carbone

idioms:

• coal mine    miniera di carbone
• coal scuttle    secchio per carbone
• coal tar    catrame
• coals to Newcastle    farina al mugnaio

Português (Portuguese)
n. - carvão (m) (Miner.), hulha (f) (Miner.)

idioms:

• coal mine    mina (f) de carvão
• coal oil    petróleo (m)
• coal scuttle    caçamba (f) para transporte de carvão
• coal tar    alcatrão (m) de hulha
• coals to Newcastle    "chover no molhado"

Русский (Russian)
уголь

idioms:

• coal mine    угольная шахта
• coal oil    керосин
• coal scuttle    ведерко для угля
• coal tar    деготь
• coals to Newcastle    в Тулу со своим самоваром

Español (Spanish)
n. - carbón de piedra, hulla
v. tr. - carbonear, carbonizar, proveer de carbón
v. intr. - proveerse de carbón

idioms:

• coal mine    mina de carbón, mina de hulla
• coal oil    aceite mineral
• coal scuttle    cubo del carbón, carbonera
• coal tar    alquitrán mineral, alquitrán de hulla
• coals to Newcastle    echar agua en el mar, llevar leña al monte

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - kol

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
煤, 木炭, 给...加煤, 把...烧成炭, 上煤, 加煤

idioms:

• coal mine    煤矿
• coal oil    煤油, 煤馏油
• coal scuttle    煤斗
• coal tar    煤焦油
• coals to Newcastle    做徒劳的事

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 煤, 木炭
v. tr. - 給...加煤, 把...燒成炭
v. intr. - 上煤, 加煤

idioms:

• coal mine    煤礦
• coal oil    煤油, 煤餾油
• coal scuttle    煤斗
• coal tar    煤焦油
• coals to Newcastle    做徒勞的事

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 석탄, 숯, 타다 남은 것, 목탄
v. tr. - 석탄을 공급하다
v. intr. - 석탄을 싣다, 숯으로 만들다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 石炭, 燃えさし
v. - 石炭を供給する, 石炭を積み込む

idioms:

• coal mine    炭鉱
• coal oil    石油, 灯油
• coal scuttle    石炭入れ
• coal tar    コールタール
• coals to Newcastle    余計な事

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) فحم‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮פחם, גחלת‬
v. tr. - ‮הטעין פחם, סיפק פחם‬
v. intr. - ‮קיבל אספקת פחם‬

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coal	coal figurine
coal stoves	ohio coal