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Frequently Asked Questions – Coal
Questions About Coal...
How many coal-fired power plants are there in the U.S.?
To what country does the U.S. export the most coal?
From what country does the U.S. import the most coal?
What are the different types of coal prices?
Which state produces the most coal?
How large are U.S. coal reserves?
What is the average heat (Btu) content of U.S. coal?
How do I convert short tons to metric tons?
 
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Question: To what country does the U.S. export the most coal?

In 2007, the United States exported the most coal to Canada—more than 18.3 million short tons.

Learn More: U.S. coal exports in the EIA Quarterly Coal Report.
Last updated: April 14, 2008
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Question: From what country does the U.S. import the most coal?

In 2007, the United States imported the most coal from Colombia—more than 26.8 million short tons.

Learn More: U.S. coal imports in the EIA Quarterly Coal Report.
Last updated: April 14, 2008
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Question: What are the different types of coal prices?

The four types of coal prices are spot price, captive price, open market price, and delivered price.

Spot price is the price for a one-time open market transaction for immediate delivery purchased "on the spot" at current market rates.
Captive price is the price for coal used by the producing company or sold to affiliated or parent companies.
Open Market price is the price of coal sold on the open market to companies other than the reporting company's parent company or a subsidiary of the parent company.
Delivered price is the price of coal including transportation costs to the consuming sector.
Last reviwed: April 17, 2008
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Question: Which state produces the most coal?

In 2006, Wyoming produced the most coal, mining 446.7million short tons.

Learn More: Coal production by state
Last updated: November 19, 2007
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Question: How large are U.S. coal reserves?

U.S. coal reserves involve three separate components: 

Recoverable coal reserves at producing mines
Estimated recoverable reserves
Demonstrated reserve base

Recoverable coal reserves
at producing mines represent the quantity of coal that can be recovered (i.e. mined) from existing coal reserves at reporting mines. These reserves essentially reflect the working inventory at producing mines.  In 2006, the recoverable coal reserves in the United States totaled 18,880 million short tons at producing (active) mines. 

The estimated recoverable reserves include the coal in the demonstrated reserve base (see below) considered recoverable after excluding coal estimated to be unavailable due to land use restrictions or currently economically unattractive for mining, and after applying assumed mining recovery rates.  See the EIA Glossary for criteria.  In 2006, the estimated recoverable reserves totaled 263,781 million short tons. 

The demonstrated reserve base is composed of coal resources that have been identified to specified levels of accuracy and may support economic mining under current technologies.  The demonstrated reserve base includes publicly-available data on coal that has been mapped and verified to be technologically minable.  See the EIA Glossary for criteria.  For 2006, the demonstrated reserve base was estimated to contain 491,076 million short tons.
Learn More: Coal reserves by state
Last updated: April 4, 2008
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Question: What is the average heat (Btu) content of U.S. coal?

In 2006, the average heat content or British thermal unit (Btu) value of U.S. coal consumed in the United States was 20.204 million Btu per short ton.

Learn More: Heat content of coal 1949 – 2006

Last updated: November 19, 2007
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Question: How do I convert short tons to metric tons?

Convert short tons of coal to metric tons by multiplying the number of short tons by 0.907184. For example, 12,300 short tons X 0.907184 = 11,158 metric tons.

Learn More: Coal Conversion Calculator
Last reviewted: April 17, 2008
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