The Department of the Interior released a U.S. Geological Survey report detailing coal resources beneath federally managed public lands in the United States. The report estimates that there are 4.2 billion short tons of coal reserves associated with active mines and an additional 356 billion short tons of available coal resources.
If produced, that would be enough coal to supply all the nation’s needs for at least 600 years at the current rate of consumption.
“American Energy Dominance is more important than ever, and so is beautiful clean coal’s role in the production of electricity needed to fuel our future prosperity,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum.
“Thanks to the USGS’s rigorous and independent assessment, we’re better equipped to manage America’s vast public lands responsibly while supporting energy security and economic opportunity.”
Wyoming’s annual coal production is the largest in the nation, and of the 34 mines on federal land, 14 are in the Equality State, followed by Colorado with six, North Dakota and Utah with four mines each, and Alabama and Montana with three mines each.
Of those mines, 29 produce thermal coal for electricity generation; three in Alabama produce metallurgical coal for steelmaking; one in Colorado produces coal for cement production (King II mine); and one in Utah is currently idled (Coal Hollow mine).
The USGS report also underlined the need for additional geologic mapping to refine resource estimates in understudied areas such as Alaska. The USGS estimates that Alaska has at least 140 billion short tons of available coal resources but may contain as much as 5.5 trillion short tons.
The public lands included in the report are those administered by the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy and Interior, and the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Source: Department of the Interior