Introduction to E-Governance

Abstract

This chapter deals with the introduction to coal along with its formation, resources, and recoverable reserves in the world, with an emphasis on the United States' coal and coalfields, the types and characteristics of coal, and coal classification systems relevant to commercial coal use. The purpose of this chapter is to provide the coal information as a prelude to the subsequent chapters. “Coal is a rock, a sediment, a conglomerate, a biological fossil, a complex colloidal system, an enigma in solid-state physics and an intriguing object for chemical and physical analyses.” While the formation of most coals can be explained by the autochthonous process, some deposits are not easily explained by this model. Some coals appear to have been formed through the accumulation of vegetal matter that has been transported by water. Moreover, the geochemical phase of the coalification process is the application of temperature and pressure over millions of years and is the most important factor of the coalification process. Coals are classified into four categories: “Basic Coal Analysis;” “Rank of Coal;” “Coal Type;” and “Grade of Coal.” This chapter concludes that coal is found in several countries, in which Brazil's coals are subbituminous and lignitic in rank, while Colombia's coals are primarily high-volatile bituminous with a small amount of subbituminous coals. These coals formed during late Cretaceous to Tertiary times.