Future bleak for Appalachian coal

Coal provides more than half of the electrical energy needs for the U.S. For more than three centuries, coal has been mined in the Appalachian Basin, one of the most prolific coal-producing regions in the world. This area includes parts of seven states and almost all the coal mined in the Appalachian Basin is used to generate electricity.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) studied 12 of the more than 50 producing coal beds in the Appalachian Basin; five key coal beds were digitally assessed in detail. These five beds account for about 12% of the country’s coal production.

Original resources for the five assessed coal beds were estimated at about 93 billion tons, with about 66 billion tons remaining. Each year, a little more than a billion tons of coal are mined in the U.S.

The assessment concludes that, at current production rates, sufficient high-quality, thick, bituminous coal resources in these five beds will last throughout the decade. After these and similar coal beds are mined, and assuming current regulations and technology, coal production is expected to decline, owing to the fact that much of the remaining coal would be thinner, deeper and higher in ash and sulphur content than the coal that has already been mined.

“A greater understanding of coal resources and coal quality allows resource managers to make informed decisions regarding the use of coal as an energy source,” says USGS Director Charles Groat. “Resource assessments are an important component in developing environmentally sound ways to extract and use the nation’s coal resources as part of an effective national energy policy.”

The Appalachian Basin is one of five U.S. regions being studied as part of the USGS National Coal Resource Assessment program, which began in 1995. The Colorado Plateau and the Northern Rocky Mountains/Great Plains assessments were completed last year.

The USGS worked in partnership with the state geological surveys of Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia to complete the most recent assessment. In addition to evaluating energy production potential, coal resource assessments can identify areas with potential for coal-bed methane production, mine flooding, surface subsidence, and acid mine drainage.

A CD-ROM of the study (USGS Professional Paper 1625-C: 2000 Resource Assessment of Selected Coal Beds and Zones in the Northern and Central Appalachian Basin Coal Regions) is available by contacting lruppert@usgs.gov.

— The preceding is from an information bulletin published by the United States Geological Survey.