Coal 101: The 4 Coal Types and Their Uses

Coal types: Low-rank coals

Lignite is the youngest type of coal deposit. It is soft and ranges in color from black to shades of brown; in fact, it is sometimes called brown coal. Lignite is mainly used for electricity generation and accounts for 17 percent of the world’s coal reserves.

Subbituminous coal is the result of millions of years of continued pressure and high temperatures on lignite. It burns cleaner than other types of coal, producing less greenhouse gas emissions due to its low sulfur content. Subbituminous coal is used in electricity generation and also in industrial processes. This coal type makes up 30 percent of the world’s coal reserves.

Coal types: Hard coals

Bituminous coal is harder and blacker than lignite and subbituminous coal, and can be divided into two types: thermal and metallurgical. Together, they make up 52 percent of the world’s coal reserves and account for a majority of the coal industry. Thermal coal, as the name implies, is used in energy generation for heating, but it is also used for cement manufacturing and other industrial purposes. Metallurgical coal is primarily mixed with iron ore to produce steel.

Anthracite is the most mature form of coal deposit and thus has the highest carbon content. Nicknamed hard coal by the locomotive engineers that used it to provide energy to power trains, coal mines that produce anthracite or hard coal account for roughly 1 percent of the world’s total coal reserves; in other words, only a very small portion of the overall coal industry.

Anthracite is also used in some older homes’ heating stove systems, and can be used as a smokeless fuel in hand-fired furnaces.

Coal types: Energy shift

Demand for coal was strong in 2021, with coal-generated electricity worldwide surging toward a new annual record. Global coal consumption rebounded by nearly 6 percent in 2021 as economies around the world began to pick back up from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Global coal consumption has continued to rise in 2022 as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent natural gas prices on a tear. This brought demand levels back to the record highs reached nearly a decade ago.

“Global coal demand is being propped up this year by rising natural gas prices, which have intensified gas-to-coal switching in many countries, as well as economic growth in India,” as per the IEA. “Those factors are being partly offset by slowing economic growth in China and by the inability of some major coal producers to ramp up production.”

IHS Markit analysts believe that while the current coal market is solidly bullish, this may only be the case for the near term as the longer-term fundamentals for coal are strongly bearish.

More and more countries are pledging to reach net-zero emissions and cut ties with coal. “The pledges to reach net zero emissions made by many countries, including China and India, should have very strong implications for coal — but these are not yet visible in our near-term forecast, reflecting the major gap between ambitions and action,” the IEA notes.

Ironically, despite being the fuel that powered the industrial revolution, industrialized countries around the world are now moving away from burning coal as an energy source due to its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.

Transitioning away from coal to generate electricity is one of the ways countries are addressing climate change.

Combating its contribution to air pollution isn't the only challenge facing the coal industry. As one of the oldest commodities attributed to the mining sector, coal mines and the mining methods used at them have long been controversial.

Miners breathing in coal dust produced during the mining process often came down with a medical condition known as “black lung,” common in areas where coal mining employs a large workforce, specifically the Appalachian region of the US.

Coal types: Investor takeaway

As can be seen, while coal types are often painted with the same brush, there’s more than one variety out there. Getting to know the differences is key for energy investors evaluating companies and projects.

For a closer look at the different coal types and their uses, check out our other articles on the subject:

• Coal 101: A Look at Lignite
• Coal 101: Subbituminous Coal Explained
• Coal 101: An Overview of Bituminous Coal
• Coal 101: What is Anthracite?

And if you want to start investing in coal, read our Introduction to Coal Investing.