Quick Facts

Coal is a burnable carbonaceous rock formed from the remains of trees, ferns and other plants that existed and died some 280 to 345 years ago.

• Coal accounts for 95 percent of the nations fossil energy reserves.
• Ohio ranks 7th in coal reserves with 23.7 billion short tons.
• Belmont County is the all-time coal production leader in Ohio, producing over 760 million tons of coal since 1816.
• Ohio ranks third nationally in the consumption of coal, following Texas and Indiana.
• Over 87 percent of Ohio’s electricity comes from coal, and provides over half of the nations electric needs.
• The Ohio coal industry directly employs over 3,000 individuals with studies showing an average of 11 spin-off jobs.
• Nine out of every ten tons of coal used in the United States are used for electricity generation.
• Every American uses an average of 3.8 tons of coal each year.
• The coal industry has reclaimed in excess of 1.9 million acres of mined land over the past 25 years – an area larger than the state of Delaware.
• In 1980 the average miner produced 1.93 tons of coal per hour. Today’s miner produces 7.10 tons per hour.
• Fifty years ago 335,000 coal miner’s working at 7,200 U.S. mines produced 467 million tons of coal. In 2001, 79,000 miners working in more than 1,400 mines produced over 1 billion tons of coal.