How much coal is in the United States?
The amount of coal that exists in the United States is difficult to estimate because it is buried underground. In 1975, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) published the most comprehensive national assessment of U.S. coal resources, which indicated that as of January 1, 1974, coal resources in the United States totaled 4 trillion short tons. Although the USGS has conducted more recent regional assessments of U.S. coal resources, a new national-level assessment of U.S. coal resources has not been conducted.
EIA publishes three measures of how much coal is left in the United States. The measures are based on various degrees of geologic certainty and on the economic feasibility of mining the coal.
EIA's estimates for the amount of coal reserves as of January 1, 2023, by type of reserve are:1
- Demonstrated Reserve Base (DRB) is the sum of coal in both measured and indicated resource categories of reliability. The DRB represents 100% of the in-place coal that could be mined commercially at a given time. EIA estimates the DRB at about 470 billion short tons, of which about 69% is underground mineable coal.
- Estimated recoverable reserves include only the coal that can be mined with today's mining technology after considering accessibility constraints and recovery factors. EIA estimates U.S. recoverable coal reserves at about 250 billion short tons, of which about 58% is underground mineable coal.
- Recoverable reserves at producing mines are the amount of recoverable reserves that coal mining companies report to EIA for their U.S. coal mines that produced more than 25,000 short tons of coal in a year. EIA estimates these reserves at about 12 billion short tons of recoverable reserves, of which 53% is surface mineable coal.
Based on U.S. coal production in 2022, of about 0.594 billion short tons, the recoverable coal reserves would last about 422 years, and recoverable reserves at producing mines would last about 20 years. The actual number of years that those reserves will last depends on changes in production and reserves estimates.
Six states had 77% of the demonstrated reserve base (DRB) of coal as of January 1, 2023:1
- Montana—25%
- Illinois—22%
- Wyoming—12%
- West Virginia—6%
- Kentucky—6%
- Pennsylvania—5%
Twenty six other states had the remaining 23% of the DRB.
What is the amount of world coal reserves?
As of December 31, 2021, estimates of total world proved recoverable reserves of coal were about 1,161 billion short tons (or about 1.16 trillion short tons), and five countries had about 75% of the world's proved coal reserves.
- The top five countries and their percentage share of world proved coal reserves as of December 31, 2021, were:2
- United States22%
- Russia15%
- Australia14%
- China14%
- India11%
Last updated: October 24, 2023, with data available at the time of update.
FAQs
World Coal Reserves
How long will we still have coal? ›
Coal phase-out – global and regional perspective
Global coal use in electricity generation must fall by 80% below 2010 levels by 2030; OECD nations should end coal use entirely by 2030; All coal-fired power stations must be shut by 2040 at the latest.
Is coal dying out? ›
The growth of renewable energy also contributed to coal's retreat, but not nearly as much as the growth of gas. The number of coal plants is continuing to fall. The country had 184 gigawatts of capacity of coal-fired power plants in 2023, down 6.4 percent from the prior year, according to EIA.
Which country has the most coal left in the ground? ›
The top five countries with the largest proven coal reserves
- United States – 249 billion tonnes. ...
- Russia – 162 billion tonnes. ...
- Australia – 149 billion tonnes. ...
- China – 142 billion tonnes. ...
- India – 106 billion tonnes.
Because coal takes millions of years to develop and there is a limited amount of it, it is a nonrenewable resource. The conditions that would eventually create coal began to develop about 300 million years ago, during the Carboniferous period.
Is the Earth still making coal? ›
Most of us rarely pick up a piece of coal these days, but if you do find a lump of the black rock, you'll be holding a piece of geological history. The process of coal formation is still taking place today, says Bailey. "The precursor to coal is called peat, and that is just uncompressed plant matter."
What year will coal run out? ›
According to the World Coal Association, there are an estimated 1.1 trillion tonnes of coal reserves across the world. At our current rates of production and consumption, there is enough coal to last us 150 years. By around 2168, coal will be no more (unless we discover new deposits which push that date back).
What is replacing coal? ›
Coal to Nuclear Transitions Help Ensure Communities are Not Left Behind. Siting new nuclear power plants in coal communities is one way of ensuring that coal power plant workers and their communities are supported as their power plants retire.
What US state has the most coal? ›
The five largest coal-producing states with production in thousand short tons, and their percentage shares of total U.S. coal production in 2022, were:
- Wyoming—244,730—41.2%
- West Virginia—83,448—14.0%
- Pennsylvania—39,701—6.7%
- Illinois—37,488—6.3%
- Kentucky—28,527—4.8%
Coal Reserves in the United States
The United States has proven reserves equivalent to 347.7 times its annual consumption. This means it has about 348 years of Coal left (at current consumption levels and excluding unproven reserves).
Energy
| Name | Price | Unit |
|---|
| Coal | 114.00 | USD per Ton |
| RBOB Gasoline | 1.97 | USD per Gallone |
| Uranium | 79.50 | USD per 250 Pfund U308 |
| Oil (Brent) | 72.39 | USD per Barrel |
4 more rowsLeading countries based on hard coal production 2021
China is by far the leading hard coal producer worldwide. In 2021, the economic powerhouse was responsible for over 3.77 billion metric tons of hard coal produced.
How deep is coal found? ›
Coal that occurs at depths of 55 to 90 m (180 to 300 ft) are usually deep mined, but in some cases surface mining techniques can be used. For example, some western U.S. coal that occur at depths in excess of 60 m (200 ft) are mined by the open pit methods, due to thickness of the seam 20–25 metres (60–90 feet).
What is killing the US coal industry? ›
Deregulating railroads in the 1970s allowed cheap Western coal to displace more costly Eastern coal, resulting in major job losses in the labor-intensive Eastern coal industry. The fracking revolution has driven down natural gas prices, making coal less competitive in electricity production.
How many years of natural gas is left? ›
Conclusion: how long will fossil fuels last? It is predicted that we will run out of fossil fuels in this century. Oil can last up to 50 years, natural gas up to 53 years, and coal up to 114 years. Yet, renewable energy is not popular enough, so emptying our reserves can speed up.
Does coal take millions of years? ›
Coal takes millions of years to form
Coal is classified as a nonrenewable energy source because it takes millions of years to form. Coal contains the energy stored by plants that lived hundreds of millions of years ago in swampy forests. Layers of dirt and rock covered the plants over millions of years.
How many years of coal is left on Earth? ›
World Coal Reserves
The world has proven reserves equivalent to 133.1 times its annual consumption. This means it has about 133 years of coal left (at current consumption levels and excluding unproven reserves).
What resources will run out by 2050? ›
According to Professor Cribb, shortages of water, land, and energy combined with the increased demand from population and economic growth, will create a global food shortage around 2050.
Is there a future for coal? ›
After reaching an all-time high this year, global coal demand is expected to decline to 2026, according to the latest edition of the International Energy Agency's (IEA) annual coal market report – the first time that the report has predicted a drop in global coal consumption over its forecast period.
Is coal going to be banned? ›
The Coal Ban is coming on May 1st 2023.
