Environment / B2

KOHL/kəʊl/

Coal is a black fossil fuel (uncountable): a coal plant; coal mining. Carbon and emissions sit in the same news stories. Oil and gas are other fossil fuels. The last coal plant on an estuary closed after a cap. Do not call charcoal coal in a science paper without care.

Meaning

A black rock burned for heat and power (uncountable).

Examples

• “The last coal plant on the estuary closed after the emissions cap.”
• “Coal in the stockpile froze, which is why the boilers struggled.”

Good to know

Uncountable: coal; a coal plant / mine. Related: carbon / fossil fuel. Contrast: charcoal (not identical). Energy transition news. Not a lump as the default countable — a lump of coal.

Topics

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