Few people realize that more than

half of the electricity produced in the

United States is generated by coal-fired

powerplants (Energy Information

Administration, 2000). 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 

Selected coal resources, including

those on Federal lands, were assessed in

five priority regions: Appalachian Basin,

Illinois Basin, Gulf Coast, Colorado

Plateau, and Northern Rocky Mountains

and Great Plains (fig. 1). The USGS

worked cooperatively with State geological surveys and local U.S. Bureau of

Land Management offices in these coalbearing regions to assess the Federal

and non-Federal resources.

The NCRA identified, characterized, and assessed the coal resources

that will supply a major part of the

Nation’s energy needs during the next

few decades and, most likely, beyond.

For some areas, this study is the first to

correlate coal beds and coal zones on a

regional basis and the first to provide a

regional assessment of coal resources.

For other areas, data on the distribution

and quality of remaining coal resources

have been updated for the first time in

decades. 

The U.S. Geological Survey National Coal Resource Assessment

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

USGS Fact Sheet FS–020–01

March 2001

EXPLANATION

 Appalachian Basin

Illinois Basin

Colorado Plateau

Gulf Coast

Assessed areas

Unassessed areas

Northern Rocky Mountains

and Great Plains

Figure 1. Five priority regions of the USGS National Coal Resource Assessment and unassessed

coal-bearing areas of the conterminous United States.
The USGS NCRA is the first assessment to use digital data bases and geographic information systems (GIS) for a

national coal assessment. This new study

is also the first to combine into integrated GIS layers all coal parameters. All

information used is geographically referenced and can be stored, manipulated,

and analyzed digitally. The ability to

compile many types of spatial data

allowed the USGS to gain an improved

understanding of coal occurrence, to

make new stratigraphic correlations, and

to integrate geologic and resource information across State boundaries.

Affordable and reliable coal supplies are essential because more than

half of U.S. electricity comes from coalfired powerplants. U.S. coal producers

sell almost 90 percent of their coal for

electricity generation (fig. 2). Formation

of an effective national energy policy

requires that policymakers receive information on coal quality, geology, distribution, and availability, as well as the

economic and environmental issues

associated with its use.

The results of the USGS National

Coal Resource Assessment provide an

impartial assessment of the Nation’s

coal resources. The digital data bases

and GIS allow for a wealth of information to be combined for a comprehensive look not only at the coal

resource tonnage, but also at the relations among hydrology, land and coal

ownership, coal-bed-gas (methane)

occurrence, overburden, and coal quality, minability, distribution, thickness,

and depth. Data from the NCRA provide

information essential to:

1. Determine the availability and

recoverability of U.S. coal

resources

2. Determine areas of potential coal

exploration

3. Provide a basis to assess coal-bedgas resources of the United States

and determine areas of potential

coal-bed-gas exploration

4. Evaluate and minimize the environmental impacts related to the

extraction, production, and use of

coal and coal-bed gas

5. Address issues of energy policy,

energy strategy, land-use management, environmental policy, economic projections, and human

health policy

6. Manage Federal lands

7. Assess the most suitable coal

resources in which to potentially

sequester carbon dioxide

Results of the USGS NCRA are

being released in a series of USGS

Professional Papers, 1625–A through

1625–F. More information is available

online at http://energy.er.usgs.gov/ncra

Reference

Energy Information Administration,

2000, Market trends—Coal, in

Annual energy outlook 2001:

Energy Information Administration

Report DOE/EIA–0383(2001), p.

92–96. (Accessed on the web on

2/21/01 at http://www.eia.doe.

gov/oiaf/aeo/pdf/trend_5.pdf)

Figure 2. Amounts of coal used for electricity generation and other

purposes in the United States, 1970–2020. From Energy Information

Administration (2000, fig. 120).

Brenda S. Pierce

U.S. Geological Survey

956 National Center

Reston, VA 20192

Telephone: (703) 648–6421

E-mail: bpierce@usgs.gov

For more information, please contact:

1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

0

250

500

750

1,000

1,250

1,500

History Projections

Electricity

Other

Total

COAL USE, IN

MILLIONS OF SHORT TONS

YEAR