Coal: Low Supplies And Rising Demand – Investing.com

Coal: Low Supplies And Rising Demand – Investing.com

This article was written exclusively for Investing.com

Coal is a fossil fuel and an energy commodity along with and . The black or brownish-black sedimentary rock formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, including hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.

In the 1800s, people began using coal to heat their homes. Trains and ships used coal as fuel. Factories used the hydrocarbon to produce iron and steel. Today, coal is still burned to make electricity in China and India, the two most populous nations.