1. Coal is a storehouse of carbon. Coal is used as a fuel, in thermal power plants as well as to run boilers and railway engines.
2. It is used as a fuel for cooking and for baking bricks in kilns on a large scale.
3. The gaseous fuels, producer gas and water gas are obtained from coal.
4. Coal as an energy resource, contributes greatly to industrial development.
5. As coal is black in colour and worth a lot of money just like gold, it is called black gold.
