November 5, 2024 - When you think of how coal is made, what comes to mind?

If the term "Fossil Fuel" comes to mind, you might be surprised to find that coal has nothing to do with fossils.

You might also be surprised to find that all of the coal on planet Earth, the stuff that states like Wyoming have been digging up for decades, was made around the same time.

It was a long period of time that began about 360 million years ago, give or take a million or so years.

It stopped, abruptly, about 300 million years ago.

As the plants died, they sank to the bottom of Wyoming's swamps.

Yes, Wyoming was once a large swamp.

Over the years, thick layers of plants were covered by dirt and water.

They were packed down by the weight.

Those plants did not decompose. There was nothing there to start the process. So everything just lay there.

Millions of years of heat and pressure transformed those dead plants into the coal we see today.

The process is called Coalifacation.

Coalifacation is nothing like the process of fossilization. That is why coal is not a fossil fuel. Nor is petroleum or natural gases.

Where does a tree get nutrients to grow so big? From the soil? Sure, but mostly from the air.

CO2 is like an airborne fertilizer.

The more CO2 there is in the air the bigger plants get.

That's why coal is packed with so much CO2.

That is also why burning coal and putting that coal back into the air is helping to green the planet.