Coal through History
Overview
Coal has been used as an energy source for hundreds
of years; there was international trade in coal
as long ago as the Roman Empire. Coal provided
the energy that fuelled the Industrial Revolution
of the 19th Century, and launched the electric
age in the 20th Century.
 From
the Industrial Revolution right through to the
second half of the 20th Century, coal
was the world’s most important primary energy
source until overtaken by oil.
Coal is still the most important energy source
for power generation, providing 37 per cent of
the world’s electricity. Coal is also an essential
reductant used in the metallurgical industries
where it is vital for 70 per cent of world steel
production.
As the global population grows and as living
standards improve in the developing world, international
demand for energy is increasing at a rapid rate.
Coal is still the most abundant, widely distributed,
safe and economical fossil fuel available to meet
this escalating energy demand.
The History of Coal
in Australia
Coal was first discovered in Australia in 1791
by a convict, William Bryant, at the mouth of
the Hunter River in New South Wales and the first
coal mining settlement was established there in
1801.
 In
Queensland, although coal had been found on the
Brisbane River and near Ipswich in the mid-1820s
when the new settlement of Brisbane was in its
infancy, it was not until 1843 that the first
coal mine opened at Redbank, near Ipswich. Smaller
coal deposits were also discovered in the other
States of Australia. (Pictured:
South Bulli Colliery NSW c1906 *)
In the early years of the colony, coal was used
primarily for domestic heating and cooking. By
the second half of the nineteenth century, the
early railways and steamships had become the primary
market for Australian coal. By 1888, annual coal
production in NSW and Queensland had reached 2.5
million tonnes.
 At
the beginning of the twentieth century, coal was
used mainly to produce gas to light and heat our
cities and towns. The demand for thermal coal
increased during World War II and after, with
rising electricity demand, and during the 1950s
and 1960s for coking coal for export to Japan
for the rapidly growing Japanese steel industry.
( Pictured: Pit Ponies and
Miners. *)
The 1960s saw oil eclipse coal as
the world's most used primary energy source, however
the relative abundance, reliability and low cost
of coal have ensured that it remains the most
commonly used fuel source for electricity generation
both in Australia and internationally.
* Images from
album Coal Mining - South Bulli Colliery, ca 1906.
By permission of the National
Library of Australia.
Further References/Links:
The History of
Coal Mining in Australia - No. 21 in the Monograph
Series published by The Australasian Institute
of Mining and Metallurgy, 1993. Available for
sale online at: http://www.ausimm.com.au/publications/publication.aspx?ID=94
Illawarra Coal
- An Unofficial History of Coal Mining in the
Illawarra
http://www.illawarracoal.com/
LOCKOUT - A documentary describing The Great Australian Lockout
1929-30
Find out more about the documentary LOCKOUT which describes the
events of one of Australia's most violent industrial conflicts and became known as the 'Rothbury Riot' or 'Battle of Rothbury'.
http://www.lockout.tv
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