what coal is and where it is found.
As well as generating power, coal is also commonly used in cement manufacturing and as a component of thousands of other products. Both types of coal are formed in a similar manner; from decomposed vegetation that was compressed beneath layers of sand, sediment and rock at high temperatures over millions of years. Itâs typically found as layers (coal beds) or veins (coal seams) and in Australia, coal is mined above and below the ground. Australiaâs coal deposits are believed to be 140 - 225 million years old.3.
Coal is a fossil fuel created from the remains of plants that lived and died about 100 to 400 million years ago when parts of the earth were covered with huge swampy forests. Coal is classified as a nonrenewable energy source because it takes millions of years to form. The energy we get from coal today comes from the energy that plants absorbed from the sun millions of years ago. All living plants store energy from the sun through a process known as photosynthesis. After the plants die, this energy is released as the plants decay.