Energy Abundance. That's Coal.

We often hear that American coal is capable of meeting the nation's energy needs for the next 200 to 240 years, based on current rates of use. But that's only a portion of coal's abundance.

America's "total resources" of coal are an astounding 4 trillion short tons — or 4,000 years worth of reserves, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Not all that coal is feasible to mine. EIA allocates mineable reserves to two categories:

• Demonstrated Reserve Base includes all the in-place coal that could be mined commercially at a given time. At 489 billion tons, that's more than 440 years' worth of coal.
• Estimated Recoverable Reserves are only the coal that can be mined with today's mining technology after accessibility constraints and recovery factors are considered. EIA estimates more than 260 billion tons of coal in that category — it's the basis for the 200 to 240 year's worth of coal estimate. These reserves are found across 24 states that currently mine coal

Coal's abundance ensures reliable and affordable energy to American businesses and consumers. Since coal fuels nearly half of all U.S. electricity demand, it's good to know we're not going to run short.

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A·bun·dance n.
1. An extremely plentiful or oversufficient quantity or supply
2. Affluence, wealth