TRACKING, DOCUMENTING AND DISSEMINATING GLOBAL INFORMATION ABOUT COAL FIRES

Coal is a widespread energy resource that is present on every continent. Coal mining is an important industry that is plagued with several problems, one of the biggest being the occurrence of coal fires. Coal fires occur on the surface and underground, consuming millions of tons of a precious non-renewable energy resource. In addition, they contribute to global environmental pollution, the full magnitude of which is not yet fully understood.

Although the coal-mining industry has for a long time acknowledged and to some extent addressed the problem of coal fires, it is only in recent years that the international community is learning about the existence of these fires. Part of the problem in bringing about general awareness about this issue is the lack of well documented data about coal fires – their number, distribution, magnitude, nature, threats etc.

In order to increase global awareness about coal fires, the authors have embarked on the task of tracking, documenting and disseminating worldwide information about them. A web-based global coal fires database is under construction that is expected to grow with input from researchers, industry, and the community. This database will form a part of the World Atlas of Coal Fires that the authors are preparing. The atlas will address all aspects of the problem of coal fires cross-cut several disciplines such as environmental science, coal geology, mineralogy, metamorphic processes, remote sensing, geophysics, and geochemistry. It will present a broad spectrum of detailed, fully illustrated case studies on a country by country basis. The World Atlas of Coal Fires will be published by Elsevier and is expected to be available in print and in digital form to the scientific and lay communities by 2009.