56 comments on Coal rank and thoughts on EROEI
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56 comments on Coal rank and thoughts on EROEI
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The most detailed and realistic recent survey on coal that I'm aware of was done last March by the Energy Watch Group. You can download it here.
They claim that in terms of energy content the US peaked in its coal production in 2002, and that "Global coal production to peak around 2025 at 30 percent above present production in the best case."
They also cite somewhat different values for the heating value of different grades of coal (HO: why is your number for anthracite lower than bituminous?):
Here is their summary chart:

At the time I was a bit rushed and couldn't find a site that I could reference with more accurate numbers - what you get for occasionally being in a hurry.
This seems to converge with Kjell Aleklett's analysis:
And the US Energy Information Administration claims - we might say reports - that on an energy-content basis United States coal production peaked in 1998 (at least to date). See
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/overview.html, Table 1.2
My compilation "Who's talking about the peaking of world oil production" compilation also contains some telling quotes on the coal situation as well as noting that the U.S. is rapidly losing its status as a net coal exporter, imports having tripled since 2000, exports having declined markedly. See
http://globalpublicmedia.com/whos_talking_about_peak_oil
The EIA figures show an undulating plateau for the energy derived from coal for over a decade. Their production figures, for the first 11 months of 2007 show a marked decline (in quantity) over the first 11 months of 2006, which, from a quick scan, could be the first decline in recent times. It could be that the Energy Watch group was right. And yet even a lot of peak oilers continue to trot out the "250 years of coal" mantra. I wonder why.