What is coal?
Coal is the world’s most plentiful fossil fuel. It is a mineral formed from the remains of land-based plants buried hundreds of millions of years ago and subjected to tremendous heat and pressure.
Coal consists of a complex range of materials and varies greatly in quality from deposit to deposit, depending on the varying types of vegetation from which the coal originated, the temperatures and pressures exerted on the deposit, and the length of time the coal has been forming.
Coal is classified according to:
The degree of transformation of the original plant material into carbon, ranging from anthracite – the hardest – down through bituminous, sub-bituminous and lignite, also known as brown coal. The coal mined in Alberta is primarily bituminous or sub-bituminous.
Moisture content – coals high in carbon and low in moisture are ranked the highest.
Composition – the major elemental components of coal are carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Sulphur and other elements can also occur in coal in small, varying amounts. The sulphur content of Alberta coal is considered low, typically less than 0.5 per cent. Other elements can also occur in small, varying amounts.
Coal Reserves
Coal is the world's most abundant fossil fuel. Canada is ranked tenth in the world in total proven coal reserves. Alberta’s coal reserves represent 70 per cent of Canada’s total reserves. Alberta’s coal reserves contain more than twice the energy of all of the province's other non-renewable energy resources, including conventional oil and pentanes, natural gas, natural gas liquids and bitumen and synthetic crude.
Coal Mining
Alberta’s energy industry started with coal mining in the late 1800’s. Today, Alberta produces 25 to 30 million tonnes of coal each year from its eleven mines. Approximately 12 million tonnes comes from the Highvale mine alone, making it the largest coal mine in Canada. The combined total of Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan coal production makes up 99 per cent of Canada’s total coal production of 66 million tonnes in 2005.
Alberta's coal is produced mainly by surface mining, either strip mining or open pit. Strip mining is employed to develop the sub-bituminous deposits found on Alberta's plains, using draglines and large stripping shovels to remove overburden and expose a relatively horizontal coal seam. Open pit mining is used most often in the Foothills and mountainous regions to develop bituminous coal seams, which are irregular and localized, and where mining is almost a vertical operation.
In the past many underground mines were in operation in Alberta, but only one underground coal mine is currently operating. That mine is at Grande Cache and opened in 2005.
Use of Coal
Coal has been burned for centuries as a source of heat and energy. According to the US Energy Information Administration, worldwide coal consumption is expected to grow by more than 40 per cent between 2001 and 2025. New technologies are making it possible to use coal more cleanly and efficiently. Coals in Western Canada are generally low in sulphur and therefore burn cleaner than coals found elsewhere around the world.
Coal fuels just over half of the installed electricity generating capacity of Alberta’s power plants. Approximately four-fifths of the coal produced in Alberta is used as fuel for electricity generation in the province, to heat buildings in agricultural operations and as an important source of energy in cement manufacturing and other industrial processes. Most of the remainder (2.6 million tonnes in 2003), including both metallurgical coal and thermal coal, is exported to international markets – Japan and South Korea, mainly – as a feedstock for the production of primary iron and steel. Small amounts (0.1 million tonnes in 2003) are shipped to other provinces.
Sub-bituminous coal does not require processing or upgrading for use as a fuel for electricity generation in the province. Most bituminous coals must be upgraded or processed by a preparation plant to meet customer specifications.
Coal has other uses. For example, gases, oil and tars extracted from coal can be used in the manufacture of products ranging from gasoline and perfumes to mothballs and baking powder. Coal can be processed many different ways to create a wide variety of products, from carbon filters to pharmaceuticals.
