Did you know?
A pound of coal supplies enough electricity to power ten 100-watt light bulbs for about an hour.
Coal was the source of about 16% of total U.S. energy consumption in 2015. The electric power sector accounted for about 91% of total U.S. coal consumption. The industrial sector used about 9%, and the commercial sector—mainly in large institutional facilities—used less than 1%.
Electric power
Coal was the source of about 33% of the electricity generated in the United States in 2015. Power plants can make steam by burning coal. The steam then turns turbines (machines for generating rotary mechanical power) to generate electricity.
Many industries and businesses have their own power plants, and some use coal to generate electricity, mostly in combined heat and power plants.
Industry
Many industries use coal and coal byproducts. The concrete and paper industries burn large amounts of coal to produce heat. The steel industry uses coal indirectly to make steel. Steel plants use coal that is baked in furnaces to make coal coke, and the coke is used to smelt iron ore into iron to make steel. The high temperatures created by burning coke give steel the strength and flexibility needed for bridges, buildings, and automobiles.
Converting coal into gas and liquids
Coal can be turned into gases and liquids that can be used as fuels or processed into chemicals to make other products. These gases or liquids are sometimes called synthetic fuels or synfuels. Synthetic fuels are made by heating coal in large vessels. These fuels produce fewer air pollutants when burned than burning coal directly.
In North Dakota, the Great Plains Synfuels Plant converts coal into synthetic natural gas (syngas). Syngas produced from coal can also be used to produce electricity and hydrogen. Currently, no commercially operating facilities in the United States produce liquids from coal, but coal has been converted to liquids in South Africa for decades.