Childrens Illustrated Encyclopedia

127

PEOPLE HAVE used coal

for cooking and heating

for thousands of years.

During the 19th century,

coal was the world’s most

important fuel. It powered

the steam engines that

made the Industrial

Revolution possible. Today, coal is still

used in vast amounts. Most coal is burned

at power stations to produce electricity, and

burning coal meets much of the world’s

energy needs. Coal is also an essential raw

material for making many products, the most

important of which are iron and steel. Coal is

often called a fossil fuel because it is formed

from the fossilized remains of plants that are

millions of years old. Sometimes a piece of coal

bears the imprint of a prehistoric plant or insect.

Earth contains reserves of coal which, with

careful use, may last for hundreds of years. But

many people are concerned that coal burning

adds to global pollution.

COAL MINERS

For centuries, miners had to
cut coal by hand. Now there

are drills and computer-
controlled cutting

machines to help them.

2

PEAT

The plant remains slowly dried out

under the mud, forming layers of peat,

a fuel that can be dug from the ground.

3

LIGNITE

Layers of peat became

buried. Heat and pressure

turned the peat into lignite,

or brown coal. Lignite

is dug from shallow pits

called strip mines.

Skip (shuttle

car) lifts coal

to surface.

Miners use cutting machine

to dig out coal at coal face.

Miners have lamps on their helmets

that light up everything in front of

them in the dark depths of a mine.

Conveyor belts take

coal to shaft.

MINING

Mine shafts are dug down

to seams (layers) of coal far

below the surface. Miners

dig a network of tunnels to

remove coal from the seams.

In addition to coal, many

other useful minerals, such

as copper, are mined. The

deepest mine is a gold mine

in South Africa

nearly 2.5 miles

(4 km) deep.

Air shaft

Supports hold roof and sides

of tunnels in place.

Railroad takes

miners to the

coal faces.

USES OF COAL

A few steam-powered

trains still burn coal, and some

homes have open fires or coal-fired heating

systems. The main use for

coal is in the production of

electricity. Heating coal without

air produces coke, which is used

to make steel, and coal gas, which

may be burned as a fuel. Another

product is coal-tar pitch, which is

used in making roads. Coal is also

treated to make chemicals that

are used to produce drugs, plastics,

dyes, and many other products.

A lump of
anthracite, a type
of hard black coal

Coal

Miners’ cage

carries miners up

and down mine.

4

BLACK

COAL

Intense heat

and pressure

turned deeper

layers of peat into

a soft black coal,

called bituminous

coal, and anthracite.

1

PREHISTORIC SWAMP

Coal began to form in swamps as long ago as

300 million years. Dying trees and other plants

fell into the water, and their remains became

covered in mud.

FORMATION OF COAL

Pumps circulate

fresh air through

the mine.

Find out more

Electricity

Industrial revolution

Iron and steel

Oil

Prehistoric life

Trains

A large coal-fired power

station in Berlin, Germany