Coal Resource Comparison

Coal Resources and Reserves for the 5 countries with the largest reserve base plus Alaska

There are vast coal deposits in Alaska. If it were a country rather than a state, it would be second only to Russia in coal resource. As yet, little of this coal has been studied, much less characterized to the point where it can be considered economically recoverable. However, if research and infrastructure catch up with other major coal producing regions, Alaska could be a major player in world energy.

For description of coal "resource" and "reserve" terminology, see our article on the topic. To see this data in the form of a table and to learn more, visit our article "Alaska Coal Resource: Potential for Future Development".

Data from the following sources:

Recoverable reserves (all 5 countries),

Resource estimates (Alaska)

Resource estimates (US)

Resource estimates (Russia) (also useful are here and here)

Total resource estimate (China)

Identified resource estimate (China)

Resource estimates (Australia)

Resource estimates (India)