USGS Fact Sheet 020-01: The U.S. Geological Survey National Coal Resource Assessment

U.S. Geological Survey
Fact Sheet 020-01 Online Version 1.0

The U.S. Geological Survey National Coal Resource Assessment

By Brenda Pierce

Few people realize that more than half of the electricity produced in the United States is generated by coal-fired powerplants. The United States has abundant supplies of coal. Understanding where coal is available and of sufficient quality to meet current emission standards is important to ensure adequate energy supplies in the future.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is responsible for providing the Federal Government with objective scientific information to support decisions regarding land management, environmental quality, and economic, energy, and strategic policy. To fulfill this responsibility, the USGS periodically assesses the Nation's endowment of energy resources. The National Coal Resource Assessment (NCRA) is a multiyear effort by the USGS Energy Resources Program having three goals:

To assess selected coal beds and zones that will be the most important in the next few decades
To create publicly available digital data bases of stratigraphic, geochemical, and geographic information to answer questions for government and industry decisionmakers and the general public
To provide interpretive geologic and geochemical information on the major coal resources of the Nation

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URL of this page: https://pubs.usgs.gov/factsheet/fs020-01/
Maintained by: Eastern Publications Group Web Team
Created 03/21/01
Last modified: 03/21/01 (krw)