Coal is an important non-renewable source which plays a crucial role in the development of our country. About 6Q% of our commercial energy is available from coal and lignite.
Coal is basically a large range of solid fossil fuel derived from partial degradation of plants under high pressure. There are mainly four types of coal basing on their carbon content, (a) Anthracite (b) Bituminous (c) Lignite and (d) Peat.
Anthracite type of coal is considered to be the best as it contains 82% carbon. Next to it is bituminous type whose carbon content is 40%-60%. The peat is the least developed from the coal.
The estimated coal reserves of India up to January, 1990 are 18,604 crore tones and three-fourths of them are confined to Bihar-West Bengal-Orissa coal belt in eastern India.
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Major types of coal with its carbon content
|
Types of coal |
Fixed ADVERTISEMENTS: carbon |
Volatile matter |
Moisture |
Ash |
Range of mating value (Bitu-pound) |
|
Anthracite |
82 |
5 |
4 |
9 |
13,000-16,000 |
|
Bituminous |
66 |
20 |
2 |
12 |
11,000-15.000 |
|
Sub bituminous |
40 |
32 |
19 |
9 |
8.000-12,000 |
|
Lignite |
30 |
28 |
37 |
5 |
5,5000-5.000 |
(These values may vary considerably with the source of coal.)
The major coal fields of the country are Raniganj, Jharia, Giridih, East Bokaro, West Bokaro, Singrauli, and Talcher. The other coalfields are found in the Godavari valleys, Chhattisgarh, Deoghar, Korba etc. Bihar is topped in the list of coal reserves and next to it, is Orissa and West Bengal.
Statewide distribution of coal reserve coal (approximate value)
|
Sl. No. |
State |
Reserve Value in Crore Tonnes |
|
1 |
Andhra Pradesh |
1060 |
|
2 |
Arunachal Pradesh |
9 |
|
3 |
Assam |
29 |
|
4 |
Bihar |
6116 |
|
5 |
Madhya Pradesh |
3265 |
|
6 |
Maharashtra |
555 |
|
7 |
Meghalaya |
46 |
|
8 |
Nagaland |
20 |
|
9 |
Orissa |
4226 |
|
10 |
Uttar Pradesh |
106 |
|
11 |
West Bengal |
2990 |
|
Total |
18422 |
(The values are approximate) Coal mining in India first started at Raniganj (West Bengal) in 1774. After that there is a rapid increase in coal production. From 3.2 crore tones in 1950, it is increased to 19.45 crore tones in 1988-89 and further increased up to 20.70 crore tones. India has produced only 3 per cent of the total world coal production and occupied ninth position in the world list. The developed countries like U.S.A., U.K., Germany and Russia have much higher rate of production.
Major utilization of coal in India is in industries and the railways. Only the Indian Railways consume 31% of our total coal production. The iron and steel industries utilize another 19%. Hence half of the India’s total coal production is consumed by these two.
Next, thermal power plants utilize 11 % of the coal while other industries like cotton, cement, jute, heavy engineering, chemicals etc. use only 12%. Coal is also used in the houses for cooking. But its percentage is very negligible.
Now smokeless coal cakes are available for domestic use. With rapid industrialization and thermal electricity production, the use of coal is increasing rapidly. It is estimated that if the present trend is continued, India’s total coal deposits will last another 150 years at best. Coal is a wasting and irreplaceable natural resource. So scientific mining with proper management of utilization of coal is required. Keeping this thing in view, the Government of India has set up the National Coal Development Corporation.
Another aspect is the problem of pollution. More burning of coal will release more smokes, grits, dusts and the result is more air pollution. Hence measures should be taken to prevent it.
Addition to power generation capacity. (Megawatt)
|
Thermal |
Hydro |
Nuclear |
Total |
|
|
1985-86 |
2977 |
1011 |
23 |
4223 |
|
1986-87 |
1920 |
7043 |
– |
2624.5 |
|
1987-88 |
3912.1 |
1069.34 |
– |
4981.44 |
|
1988-89 |
4117.1 |
532.7 |
235 |
4885.2 |