hydrocarbon+coal

Coal is a hydrocarbon-rich, combustible solid that formed 300 million years ago when thick basins of vegetation were buried in sediment and compressed.





Coal is composed primarily of carbon, with other elements such as hydrogen, oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen as minor constituents, and minerals containing uranium, arsenic, and mercury in trace amounts.


 * The world consumed 6.7 billion tons of coal in 2006; 45% of this was used to generate electricity.


 * In the U.S., just over 1 billion tons of coal were mined in 2009. It consumed 944 million tons of coal. About 94% of coal in the U.S. is used to generate electricity at 341 coal power plants.


 * Pennsylvania is 4th on the list of coal mined, at 65.4 million tons mined in 2009. Pennsylvania has over 70 coal-fired power plants, which generate 50% of the state's electricity.