Producing electricity is the primary use of coal.  Most of the coal mined is transported to a power plant, crushed to very small particles and burned.  The heat created from this burning produces steam which is then used to turn a generator to produce electricity.

But coal also has many other uses.  In manufacturing processes, it is used as a source of heat.  Bricks and cement are made in kiln ovens heated by the combustion of a jet of powdered coal.  Factories also rely on coal as a power source, where it is used to heat steam and the steam is used to drive mechanical devices.  A few decades ago most coal was used for space heating.  Some coal is still used that way but other fuels and coal-produced electricity are now used instead.

Another important use of coal is for the production of Coke.  Coke is produced by heating coal under controlled conditions, in the absence of air.  This drives off some of the volatile materials and concentrates the carbon content.  Coke is used as a high carbon fuel for metal processing and other uses, where an especially hot-burning flame is needed.

Coal is also used in manufacturing.  If coal is heated the gases, tars and residues produced can be used in a number of manufacturing processes.  Plastics, roofing, linoleum, synthetic rubber, insecticides, paint products, medicines, solvents and synthetic fibers all include some coal-derived compounds.  Coal can also be converted into liquid and gaseous fuels; however, these uses of coal are mainly experimental and done on a small scale.

Coal is made up of complex mixtures of organic and inorganic compounds. The organic compounds, inherited from the plants that live and die in the swamps, number in the millions. The more than 120 inorganic compounds in coal either were introduced into the swamp from waterborne or windborne sediment, or were derived from elements in the original vegetation; for instance, inorganic compounds containing such elements as iron and zinc are needed by plants for healthy growth.

After the plants decompose, the inorganic compounds remain in the resulting peat. Some of those elements combine to form discrete minerals, such as pyrite. Other sources of inorganic compounds used by the plants may be either the mud that coats the bottom of the swamp, sediments introduced by drainage runoff, dissolved elements in the swamp water, windborne sand, ash, or dust.
Coal is abundant in South Africa, is relatively inexpensive, and is an excellent source of energy and by-product raw materials. Because of these factors, domestic coal is the primary source of fuel for electric power stations and will continue to be well into the 21^st century. In addition, other industries continue to use coal for fuel and coke production and there is a large overseas market for high quality South African coal.

Because humans have used coal for centuries, much is known about it. The usefulness of coal as a heat source and the myriad of by products that can be produced from coal are well understood.

One of the most difficult challenges the world faces today is overcoming the climate change due to excessive CO_{2 emissions.}    These emissions are largely the result of fossil fuels burning.  However, the world needs energy – our energy demands continue to soar, and fossil fuels are required to meet our everyday needs.

It is estimated that global CO2 emissions need to be reduced by approximately 60 in order to stabilize at present-day levels.  But realistically, this is not something which we can achieve in the near future.  Therefore, science is looking for new solutions.  One of these is turning CO₂ into methanol, or some other useful chemical compound.  Not sure if this is possible?  Just ask the scientists at the Singapore-basedInstitute ofBioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN).

These scientific visionaries are making extraordinary breakthroughs in transforming carbon dioxide into methanol, a commonly used form of industrial feedstock and clean-burning bio-fuel. Their secret is in using what is called “organocatalysts”.  In this process, researchers activate carbon dioxide in a mild and non-toxic process, resulting in the ability to produce the more useful chemical compound. This really has the potential to be one of the most important discoveries in the energy world.

Coal is directly connected with greenhouse gas emissions, so it is no surprise that science and technology are on the lookout for new clean coal technologies.  These new technologies involve ways in which to burn coal, without it adding extensively to the global carbon dioxide levels.  At the moment, coal usage produces approximately 9 billion tones of carbon dioxide annually.   Energy experts hope that these new clean coal technologies will help to successfully address this problem.  The most promising of these “clean coal technologies” may be what is known as “carbon capture and storage technology”.  While this technology is available, it has not yet been developed to cope with the scale required in coal-burning power plants.  But this could change in the future.

In comparing other fossil fuels with coal (such as oil and natural gas) coal certainly has the most widely distributed reserves.  It is mined in over 100 countries and is found on all continents, with the exception of theAntarctica. South Africa has one of the world’s largest reserves!

Despite having a negative impact, this energy source remains the most used energy source in the world.   It is the cheapest energy option for many countries.  It looks likely that it shall continue to be the dominant energy source for the next few decades and so great hope is being put into the developing “clean coal technologies”.