Coal Industry, History of

Jaak J.K. Daemen

In a narrow sense, the coal industry can be considered as the coal mining industry, including coal preparation. More broadly it includes major users, such as steam generators for electric power, coking for steel production, and, historically, coal as a feedstock for chemicals and as transportation fuel, especially steam locomotives and ships, as well as the wide range of applications of steam engines. The transportation of coal, given its bulk and low value, can be a major cost of its use. Coal exploration and geology are part of the front end of the coal mining cycle.

1 Introduction

Coal has been mined for centuries. Until shortly before the Industrial Revolution, its use was local, and it did not make a significant contribution to the overall energy consumption of the world. Coal use increased rapidly in the two centuries before the Industrial Revolution and has continued to grow ever since, with occasional temporary down dips. Coal was the dominant fuel during the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. The rise of modern society is intimately intertwined with the growth of the coal industry. Developments driven by coal with a major impact on technological progress include the steam engine, the railroad, and the steamship, dominant influences on the formation of modern society. For over a century, coal was the major energy source for the world. Its relative contribution declined over the second half of the 20th century. In absolute terms its contribution continues to increase.

The environmental disadvantages of coal have been recognized for centuries. Efforts to reduce these disadvantages accelerated over the last third of the 20th century. Because coal remains the largest and most readily available energy source, its use is likely to continue, if not increase, but will have to be supported by improved environmental control.

2 Pre- and Early History

Where coal was mined and used initially is not clear. Secondary sources vary as to when coal use may have started in China, from as early as 1500 BC to as late as well after 1000 AD. It has been stated that a Chinese coal industry existed by 300 AD, that coal then was used to heat buildings and to smelt metals, and that coal had become the leading fuel in China by the 1000s. Marco Polo reported its widespread use in China in the 13th century. Coal may have been used by mammoth hunters in eastern central Europe.

The Greeks knew coal, but as a geological curiosity rather than as a useful mineral. Aristotle mentions coal, and the context implies he refers to “mineral” or “earth” coal. Some mine historians suggest he referred to brown coal, known in Greece and nearby areas. Theophrastus, Aristotle’s pupil and collaborator, used the term αvθραζ(anthrax), root of anthracite. Although Theophrastus reported its use by smiths, the very brief note devoted to coal, compared to the many pages dealing with charcoal, suggest, as does archaeological evidence, that it was a minor fuel. The term is used with ambiguous meanings, but at least one was that of a solid fossil fuel. Theophrastus describes spontaneous combustion, still a problem for coal storage and transportation.

Coal was used in South Wales during the Bronze Age. The Romans used coal in Britain, in multiple locations, and in significant quantities. After the Romans left, no coal was used until well into the second millennium. Lignite and especially peat, geological precursors to coal, were used earlier and on a larger scale in northern and western Europe. Pliny, in the first century AD, mentions the use of earth fuel by inhabitants of Gaul near the Rhine mouth, to heat their food and themselves. All indications are that he describes the use of peat in an area currently part of The Netherlands, where peat still was used as a fuel nearly twenty centuries later. Romans observed coal burning near St. Étienne, later a major French coal mining center. The Romans carved jet, a hard black highly polishable brown coal, into jewelry. Jet was used as a gemstone in Central Europe no later than 10000 BC.

The recorded history of coal mining in India dates from the late 18th century. Place and river names in the Bengal-Bihar region suggest that coal may have been used, or at least that its presence was recognized, in ancient times.

Coal use was rare, even in most parts of the world where it was readily accessible in surface outcrops, until well into the second millennium, at which time its use became widespread, be it on a small scale.

The Hopis mined coal at the southern edge of Black Mesa, in northern Arizona, from about the 13th through the 17th century AD. Most was used for house fuel, some for firing pottery. Coal was mined by a primitive form of strip mining, conceptually remarkably similar to modern strip mining. At least a few underground outcrop mines were pursued beyond the edge of the last (deepest) strip, a practice reminiscent of modern auger mining. Gob stowing was used to prevent or control overburden collapse.

3 Middle Age and Renaissance

Coal and iron ore formed the basis of the steel industry in Liège in present Belgium. Coal mining rights were granted in Liege in 1195 (or 1198?) by the Prince Bishop. At about the same time, the Holyrood Abbey in Scotland was granted coal mining rights. A typical medieval situation involved abbeys or cloisters driving technology. In France, a 13th-century real estate document established property limits defined by a coal quarry. The earliest reliable written documentation in Germany appears to be a 1302 real estate transaction that included rights to mine coal. The transaction covered land near Dortmund in the heart of the Ruhr.

Coal use started before it was documented in writing. Religious orders tended to keep and preserve written materials more reliably than others. It seems reasonable to postulate that coal use began no later than the 12th century in several West European countries. Documented evidence remains anecdotal for several more centuries but indicates that coal use increased steadily from the 12th century on. England led in coal production until late in the 19th century. Contributing to this sustained leadership were that wood (and hence charcoal) shortages developed earlier and more acutely there than in other countries, there was ready access to shipping by water (sea and navigable rivers), and large coal deposits were present close to the surface.

By the 13th century, London imported significant amounts of coal, primarily sea-coal, shipped from Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The use of coal grew steadily, even though it was controversial, for what now would be called environmental impact reasons. Smoke, soot, sulfurous odors, and health concerns made it undesirable. From the 13th century on, ordinances were passed to control, reduce, or prevent its use. None of these succeeded, presumably because the only alternatives, wood and charcoal, had become too expensive, if available at all. Critical for the acceptance of coal...