Coal is a heterogeneous, carbon-rich solid fossil fuel formed from the diagenesis and coalification of ancient plant material under elevated pressure and temperature over geologic timescales. It consists primarily of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and mineral matter, with a maceral composition dominated by vitrinite, inertinite, and liptinite. Coal is classified by rank (e.g., lignite, subbituminous, bituminous, anthracite) based on carbon content, volatile matter, and calorific value, which reflect the degree of metamorphism. Its physicochemical properties, including porosity, reflectance, sulfur content, and trace element composition, are critical for combustion behavior, gasification, coking performance, and environmental impact in industrial applications.
In December 2025, Indonesia quietly abandoned plans to close the Cirebon-1 coal power plant.
Environment
Jun 1, 2026
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13
South Africa risks thousands of premature deaths if the phase-out of coal plants is delayed due to the government's updated decommissioning dates, climate rights groups said in a report Wednesday.
Environment
Apr 22, 2026
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8
Air pollution causes millions of premature deaths worldwide each year, with fine particulate matter (PM2.5) identified as a major culprit. In response, countries from Ireland to China have promoted low-smoke or smokeless ...
Environment
Mar 2, 2026
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17
The combustible sedimentary rock, better known as coal, was not only crucial to the onset of advanced technology here on Earth, but it should also be key to the development of advanced E.T.s residing on any given exoearth. ...
Astrobiology
Feb 9, 2026
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42
In addition to serious economic damage, the energy crisis of 2021/22 also had dramatic consequences for the environment and people's health. This is the conclusion reached by two researchers at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität ...
Environment
Jan 27, 2026
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18
For the past 250 years, people have mined coal industrially in Pennsylvania, U.S.. By 1830, the city of Pittsburgh was using more than 400 tons of the fossil fuel every day. Burning all that coal has contributed to climate ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 1, 2025
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3105
Since its initial discovery in 2004 by two professors at the University of Manchester, graphene has made a big splash in the scientific community. Its discoverers won a Nobel Prize in 2010 for developing the idea—then the ...
Nanomaterials
Oct 18, 2023
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270
In a warming world, coal can often seem the "bad guy." But we can do other things with coal besides burn it. A team at Ohio University used the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center's Bridges-2 system to carry out a series of ...
Nanomaterials
Jan 5, 2023
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138
A low-value byproduct of the coal mining process is proving highly effective at helping reclaim the land and water used in mining, University of Alberta research shows.
Nanomaterials
Jul 22, 2021
1
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