Coal

Coal

Subject – Geography

Context – ‘No new coal plants needed to meet 2030 demand’

Concept –

• Coal is a sedimentary, organic rock which is flammable composed primarily of carbon along with other elements such as hydrogen, sulphur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
• It is used mainly in the generation of thermal power and smelting of iron ore.
• Also called black gold.

Formation Of Coal:

• Coal is formed from dead plants remains.
• These dead plants get compressed beneath rocks in a low oxygen environment.
• Due to high pressure and heat, this organic matter gets converted into Peat(partially decayed organic matter).
• This peat is converted into low carbon coal i.e., lignite.
• More heat and pressure convert lignite into bituminous and then to anthracite.

Types Of Coal:

1. On the basis of carbon content and order of formation:
   • PEAT– 40% CARBON (NE)
   • LIGNITE– 40-60% CARBON – Low Quality – Brown in colour- found in Neyveli in TN.
   • BITUMINOUS– 60-80% CARBON. It is soft coal. In India, much of the coal comes under this category.
   • ANTHRACITE– 80-90% CARBON. It is mainly found in the district of Reasi in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

2. On the basis of usage:

• Coking coal– High carbon content, less moisture, less sulphur, less ash. It forms coke when heated in the absence of air. It is used in the iron and steel industry to make pig iron.
• Non Coking coal– It is used in the thermal power plants to generate power. Sulphur content is high and hence cannot be used in iron and steel industry.

NOTE: There is a shortage of good quality coking coal in india. So we partially import good grade coking coal for the iron and steel industry. 

3. On the basis of origin:

• Gondwana Coal- old-[250 million years old]:
• The most important Gondwana coal in India are found exclusively in peninsular plateau especially in Damodar, Godavari,Mahanadi and Sone valley
• Jharia (JH) is the largest coal field in India followed by Raniganj (WB).
• Other important coal mining centre are: Singrauli– MP, Korba- CH,Talcher and Rampur- Odisha, Singareni– Telangana, Chanda-Wardha– MH, Pandur– AP
• Tertiary coal fields [15 – 60 million years old]:Tertiary coal occurs in Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland

Largest coal reserves in India: JH>ODISHA>CH>WB>MP>AP

Import Of Coal:

• As per the present Import policy, coal can be freely imported (under Open General Licence) by the consumers themselves.
• Coking Coal is being imported by Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and other Steel manufacturing units mainly to bridge the gap between the requirement and indigenous availability and to improve the quality.
• Coal based power plants, cement plants, captive power plants, sponge iron plants, industrial consumers and coal traders are importing non-coking coal.
• Coke is imported mainly by Pig-Iron manufacturers and Iron & Steel sector consumers using mini-blast furnace.

Impact Of Coal on Environment:

• Coal mining and use of coal in power stations and factories have led to degradation of the environment.
• Coal mining can cause contamination of drinking water. Power stations and factories that burn coal also consume large quantities of water.
• Combustion of carbon releases a number of greenhouse gases that is a major cause of global warming and climate change.
• Smog and acid rain are also due to the use of coal.
• Fly ash can also contaminate land and water.
• The use of coal as fuel causes adverse health problems and deaths. It is a leading cause of asthma, bronchitis, strokes, heart attacks, mercury poisoning, lung cancer.
• There is a global campaign going to decrease the dependence on coal and move to cleaner and more efficient fuels.