Interior Says Federal Lands Hold 356 Billion Tons of Potential Coal Resources
The Department of the Interior and the U.S. Geological Survey said July 23 that federally managed lands contain an estimated 356 billion short tons of available coal resources in the lower 48 states, along with at least 140 billion short tons in Alaska.
The assessment also identified 4.2 billion short tons of reported coal reserves associated with active mines beneath federal lands. Wyoming accounts for 87% of those reported reserves, making it the leading state in the assessment.
The figures provide a new federal estimate of the coal beneath public lands as the administration weighs the role of coal in the nation’s energy supply and the future of federal coal development.
What the assessment found
The assessment separates reported reserves associated with active mines from broader coal resources considered potentially available for development. The 4.2 billion short tons tied to active mines are reported reserves. The 356 billion short tons identified across the lower 48 states are a much larger estimate of available resources.
Interior said the lower-48 resource estimate would equal at least 600 years of national coal consumption at the current rate if all of that coal were produced. That comparison describes the scale of the estimate; it is not a projection that the coal will be mined or burned over that period.
The assessment also found at least 140 billion short tons of coal resources in Alaska. Together, the lower-48 and Alaska figures show the geographic breadth of the federal land inventory, while the active-mine reserve figure reflects the smaller amount associated with existing production.
Wyoming’s central role
Wyoming contains 87% of the reported reserves associated with active mines under federal lands, according to the assessment. The North Antelope Rochelle Mine in the state’s Powder River Basin was identified as the largest-producing federal-land coal mine and as holding the largest reported reserves.
The mine’s position illustrates the concentration of current federal-land coal reserves in Wyoming, even though the broader resource estimates extend across the lower 48 states and Alaska.
The assessment does not establish that every identified resource is economically recoverable. Resource estimates can include coal that may face technical, economic, legal or other barriers before it could be produced. The reported figures therefore should not be treated as a guarantee of future mining.
What happens next
Interior’s release announced the assessment but did not announce a specific new federal coal lease sale or mine approval. The data could nevertheless influence debates over federal coal leasing, energy supply and the environmental consequences of developing resources on public lands.
For energy policymakers, the assessment offers a broad measure of the coal potentially available beneath federally managed land. For communities and others concerned about public-land development, the distinction between a large resource estimate and coal that can actually be mined is central to interpreting the numbers.
The assessment’s 600-year comparison also depends on the condition that the estimated lower-48 resources would all be produced. That condition matters because the release presents potential resources, not a commitment to develop them.
Sources
- Interior Releases Major Update on Coal Potential Beneath Federal Lands, U.S. Department of the Interior
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