People interested in Kentucky energy issues will find a new web-based service invaluable for quickly finding the locations of power plants, railroads, active coal mines, and other coal processing, handling, and transportation facilities in Kentucky. The Kentucky Department for Energy Development and Independence and the Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS) have joined to develop an interactive web map titled “Kentucky Energy Infrastructure.” The map service, created with funding from the Kentucky Coal Education grant, can be found at http://kgs.uky.edu/kgsmap/KYCoal/viewer.asp.There have been earlier printed versions of this map, but with the typical limitations of a paper map, such as fixed scale and content. The new version adds dynamic characteristics available only through a web-based resource. All data shown on the map can be downloaded in both spreadsheet and GIS format for use on a local computer.The Energy Infrastructure map gives users an overview of coal mining, processing, and utilization infrastructure in Kentucky. All of the facilities in that infrastructure are important to the state’s energy needs, as Kentucky derives more than 90% of its electric power from coal.The map service includes tools which allow a user to select a defined area, choose a level of detail, and click on mapped items, such as power plants, mines and coal-related facilities, to see information on the particular feature.Updated data will be added to the service as it becomes available, and links to external Web sites to obtain other information for an area of interest adds to the value of the site.

For the open-file report we collected new coking coal samples from Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Arkansas and analyzed them for proximate and ultimate analyses; calorific value; sulfur forms; major-, minor-, and trace-element abundances; free swelling indices; Gieseler plasticity; ASTM dilatation; coal petrography, and several other tests [air-dry loss (ADL), residual moisture (RM), equilibrium moisture (EQM), and true specific gravity (TSG)]. Coal Stability Factor (CSF) and Coal Strength after Reaction with CO2 (CSR) were predicted using chemical, rheological, and petrographic data (pCSF and pCSR, respectively). In addition, data from previously analyzed samples in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, and Kentucky were shared with us by three companies, including results from the tests listed above, plus oxidation, Hardgrove Grindability Index (HGI), and ash fusion temperatures. These data are the contents of appendices 2-8 of the open-file report and this data release. In addition, appendices 20 and 21 of the open-file report and this data release include data previously published by the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) in their Minerals Yearbooks listing the annual amounts of coal purchased (in short tons) for manufacturing oven-coke in six coal districts in Pennsylvania from 1942-1965 (in appendix 20), and the annual amounts of coal received by oven-coke plants (in short tons) in 17 Pennsylvania counties from 1966-1976 (in appendix 21). These previously published data have been included in this data release because they are currently not available online and the original USBM paper publications are not available in most libraries.

Surface and Underground Coal Mines in the U.S.This feature layer, utilizing data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), displays all operating surface and underground coal mines in the U.S. by total production in short tons. Per EIA, "Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock with a high amount of carbon and hydrocarbons. Coal is classified as a nonrenewable energy source because it takes millions of years to form. Coal contains the energy stored by plants that lived hundreds of millions of years ago in swampy forests."Coal is mainly found in three regions: the Appalachian coal region, the Interior coal region, and the Western coal region (includes the Powder River Basin).The Appalachian coal region includes Alabama, Eastern Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.The Interior coal region includes Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and Western Kentucky.The Western coal region includes Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.Gemini Surface MineData currency: This cached Esri service is checked monthly for updates from its federal source (Coal Mines)Data modification: NoneFor more information, please visit: Coal ExplainedFor feedback: ArcGIScomNationalMaps@esri.comEnergy Information AdministrationPer EIA, "The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) collects, analyzes, and disseminates independent and impartial energy information to promote sound policymaking, efficient markets, and public understanding of energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment."