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132-402: Compared to wood fuels , coal yields a higher amount of energy per unit mass, specific energy or massic energy, and can often be obtained in areas where wood is not readily available. Though it was used historically as a domestic fuel, coal is now used mostly in industry, especially in smelting and alloy production, as well as electricity generation . Large-scale coal mining developed during

264-463: A bill that would delay for three years the implementation of more stringent emission standards for new residential wood heaters. Some European countries produce a significant fraction of their electricity needs from wood or wood wastes. In Scandinavian countries the costs of manual labor to process firewood is very high. Therefore, it is common to import firewood from countries with cheap labor and natural resources. The main exporters to Scandinavia are

396-722: A diplomatic test of will three years before the outbreak of the Second World War . To the west the area stretches to the borders with Luxembourg , Belgium and the Netherlands ; on the eastern side it encompasses the towns and cities along the river and the Bergisches Land area up to the Westphalian ( Siegerland ) and Hessian regions. Stretching down to the North Palatine Uplands in

528-533: A discourse on forest trees" (1664) advising landowners on the proper management of forest estates. H. L. Edlin, in "Woodland Crafts in Britain", 1949 outlines the extraordinary techniques employed, and range of wood products that have been produced from these managed forests since pre-Roman times. And throughout this time the preferred form of wood fuel was the branches of cut coppice stems bundled into faggots . Larger, bent or deformed stems that were of no other use to

660-466: A fourth of the world's energy. Since 1890, coal mining has also been a political and social issue. Coal miners' labour and trade unions became powerful in many countries in the 20th century, and often, the miners were leaders of the Left or Socialist movements (as in Britain, Germany, Poland, Japan, Chile, Canada and the U.S.) Since 1970, environmental issues have been increasingly important, including

792-399: A furnace, stove , or fireplace , or outdoors in furnace, campfire , or bonfire . Wood has been used as fuel for millennia. Historically, it was limited in use only by the distribution of technology required to make a spark. Heat derived from wood is still common throughout much of the world. Early examples included a fire constructed inside a tent. Fires were constructed on the ground, and

924-460: A great variety of styles, though none resembles the original design. The 1800s became the high point of the cast iron stove. Each local foundry would make their own design, and stoves were built for myriads of purposes—parlour stoves, box stoves, camp stoves, railroad stoves, portable stoves, cooking stoves and so on. Elaborate nickel and chrome edged models took designs to the edge, with cast ornaments, feet and doors. Wood or coal could be burnt in

1056-542: A large number of small operations sprang up. There was a complex legal system for concessions, and often multiple layers had different owners. Entrepreneurs started going deeper and deeper, thanks to the good pumping system. In 1790, the maximum depth of mines was 220 meters (720 ft). By 1856, the average depth in the Borinage was 361 meters (1,184 ft), and in 1866, 437 meters (1,434 ft) and some pits had reached down 700 to 900 meters (2,300 to 3,000 ft); one

1188-559: A major supplier for the industrial regions of Ontario . By 2000 about 19% of Canada's energy was supplied by coal, much of it imported from the U.S while Eastern Canadian ports import considerable coal from Venezuela . The first coal mining in North America began in New Brunswick, Canada, in the early 1600s. Coal was found by French explorers and fur traders along the shores of Grand Lake where rivers and erosion had exposed

1320-403: A mine in 1850 was about 8,500 short tons (7,700 t); its employment about 64. By 1900, the average mine's output had risen to 280,000 short tons (250,000 t) and the employment to about 1,400. Total Ruhr coal output rose from 2.0 million short tons (1.8 Mt) in 1850 to 22(20 Mt) in 1880, 60(54 Mt) in 1900, and 114(103 Mt) in 1913, on the verge of war. In 1932 output

1452-590: A rational, simplified, centralized system controlled by Paris and run by Napoleon's relatives. The most important impact came from the abolition of all feudal privileges and historic taxes, the introduction of legal reforms of the Napoleonic Code , and the reorganization of the judicial and local administrative systems. The economic integration of the Rhineland with France increased prosperity, especially in industrial production, while business accelerated with

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1584-414: A result, forest fires occurred, along with floods and soil erosion. Around 1666, the shōgun made it a policy to reduce logging and increase the planting of trees. This policy decreed that only the shōgun, or a daimyō , could authorize the use of wood. By the 18th century, Japan had developed detailed scientific knowledge about silviculture and plantation forestry . The development of the chimney and

1716-499: A small scale. As the use of coal amongst the artisans became more widespread, it became clear that coal smoke was detrimental to health and the increasing pollution in London led to much unrest and agitation. As a result of this, a Royal proclamation was issued in 1306 prohibiting artificers of London from using sea coal in their furnaces and commanding them to return to the traditional fuels of wood and charcoal. Marco Polo wrote about

1848-551: A smoke hole in the top of the tent allowed the smoke to escape by convection. In permanent structures and in caves, hearths were constructed or established—surfaces of stone or another noncombustible material upon which a fire could be built. Smoke escaped through a smoke hole in the roof. In contrast to civilizations in relatively arid regions (such as Mesopotamia and Egypt), the Greeks, Romans, Celts, Britons, and Gauls all had access to forests suitable for using as fuel. Over

1980-988: A stable labor force at the end of the war. The first important mines appeared in the 1750s, in the valleys of the rivers Ruhr, Inde and Wurm where coal seams outcropped and horizontal adit mining was possible. In 1782 the Krupp family began operations near Essen . After 1815 entrepreneurs in the Ruhr Area , which then became part of Prussia took advantage of the tariff zone ( Zollverein ) to open new mines and associated iron smelters. New railways were built by British engineers around 1850. Numerous small industrial centres sprang up, focused on ironworks , using local coal. The iron and steel works typically bought mines, and erected coking ovens to supply their own requirements in coke and gas. These integrated coal-iron firms ("Huettenzechen") became numerous after 1854; after 1900 they became mixed firms called "Konzern." The average output of

2112-402: A standard stacked cord, where there is less void space. It is also common to see wood sold by the "face cord", which is usually not legally defined, and varies from one area to another. For example, in one state a pile of wood 8 feet wide × 4 feet high of 16 inch-long logs will often be sold as a "face cord", though its volume is only one-third of a cord. In another state, or even another area of

2244-655: A tradition that continued in the naming of the current German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia . In the early 1800s, Rhinelanders settled the Missouri Rhineland , a German cultural region and wine producing area in the U.S. State of Missouri , and named it after noticing similarities in soil and topography to the Rhineland in Europe . By 1860, nearly half of all settlers in Missouri Rhineland came from Koblenz , capital of

2376-565: A working-class consciousness. Unions gain strength by setting up a system of worker-elected mine-safety delegates. The national government encouraged the mine safety movement to limit strife in the sometimes turbulent coal fields. Nevertheless, strikes remained very common, and coal miners took the lead in political organization. Germany seized control of some mining districts in the First World War, leaving them devastated. Polish, Spanish, and other immigrants were brought in to provide

2508-487: Is wood ash , which in moderate amounts is a fertilizer (mainly potash ), contributing minerals, but is strongly alkaline as it contains potassium hydroxide (lye). Wood ash can also be used to manufacture soap . Smoke , containing water vapor , carbon dioxide and other chemicals and aerosol particulates, including caustic alkali fly ash , which can be an irritating (and potentially dangerous) by-product of partially burnt wood fuel. A major component of wood smoke

2640-684: Is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine , chiefly its middle section . It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy Roman Empire , Prussia and the German Empire . Historically, the term " Rhinelands " refers (physically speaking) to a loosely defined region embracing the land on the banks of the Rhine, which were settled by Ripuarian and Salian Franks and became part of Frankish Austrasia . In

2772-425: Is abundant. For serious attempts at heating, rather than mere ambience (open fireplaces), stoves, fireplace inserts, and furnaces are most commonly used today. In rural, forested parts of the U.S., freestanding boilers are increasingly common. They are installed outdoors, some distance from the house, and connected to a heat exchanger in the house using underground piping. The mess of wood, bark, smoke, and ashes

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2904-456: Is burnt will greatly influence the content of the emission. Particulate air pollution can contribute to human health problems and increased hospital admissions for asthma & heart diseases. The technique of compressing wood pulp into pellets or artificial logs can reduce emissions. The combustion is cleaner, and the increased wood density and reduced water content can eliminate some of the transport bulk. The fossil energy consumed in transport

3036-599: Is comparable to the wood consumed by all of Victoria's sawlog and pulplog forestry operations (1.9 million m³). Species used as sources of firewood include: In 2014, the construction of the biggest pellet plant in the Baltic region was started in Võrumaa , Sõmerpalu , Estonia, with an expected output of 110,000 tons of pellet / year. Different types of wood will be used in the process of pellet making (firewood, woodchips, shavings). The Warmeston OÜ plant started its activity by

3168-499: Is fine particles that may account for a large portion of particulate air pollution in some regions. During cooler months, wood heating accounts for as much as 60% of fine particles in Melbourne , Australia . Significant quantities of volatile organic compounds are released from the combustion of fuel wood . Large quantities of smaller oxygenate species are released during the combustion process, as well as organics formed from

3300-438: Is given to soil nutrition as well as erosion. The environmental impact of using wood as a fuel depends on how it is burnt. Higher temperatures result in more complete combustion and less noxious gases as a result of pyrolysis. Some may regard the burning of wood from a sustainable source as carbon-neutral . A tree, over the course of its lifetime, absorbs as much carbon (or carbon dioxide) as it releases when burnt. Some firewood

3432-437: Is harvested in " woodlots " managed for that purpose, but in heavily wooded areas it is more often harvested as a byproduct of natural forests . Deadfall that has not started to rot is preferred, since it is already partly seasoned . Standing dead timber is considered better still, as it is both seasoned, and has less rot. Harvesting this form of timber reduces the speed and intensity of bushfires . Harvesting timber for firewood

3564-431: Is kept outside and the risk of fire is reduced. The boilers are large enough to hold a fire all night and can burn larger pieces of wood, thus less cutting and splitting is required. There is no need to retrofit a chimney in the house. However, outdoor wood boilers emit more wood smoke and associated pollutants than other wood-burning appliances. This is due to design characteristics such as the water-filled jacket surrounding

3696-412: Is normally carried out by hand with chainsaws . Thus, longer pieces - requiring less manual labor, and less chainsaw fuel - are less expensive and only limited by the size of their firebox. Prices also vary considerably with the distance from wood lots, and quality of the wood. Firewood usually relates to timber or trees unsuitable for building or construction . Firewood is a renewable resource provided

3828-475: Is reduced and represents a small fraction of the fossil fuel consumed in producing and distributing heating oil or gas. Much wood fuel comes from native forests around the world. Plantation wood is rarely used for firewood, as it is more valuable as timber or wood pulp , however, some wood fuel is gathered from trees planted amongst crops, also known as agroforestry . The collection or harvesting of this wood can have serious environmental implications for

3960-449: Is still used today for cooking in many places, either in a stove or an open fire. It is also used as a fuel in many industrial processes, including smoking meat and making maple syrup . As a sustainable energy source, wood fuel also remains viable for generating electricity in areas with easy access to forest products and by-products. In the metric system , firewood is normally sold by the cubic metre or stere (1 m ≈ 0.276 cords ). In

4092-602: Is the coal mining in Zona Centro Sur , Chile, that began as a response to the arrival of steamships to Talcahuano . In 1984 Australia surpassed the US as the world's largest coal exporter. One-third of Australia's coal exports were shipped from the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales, where coal mining and transport had begun nearly two centuries earlier. Coal River was the first name given by British settlers to

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4224-452: Is the single largest consuming market for industrial wood pellets, in large part due to its major biomass-fueled power stations such as Drax , MGT and Lynemouth . Japan and South Korea are both growing markets for industrial wood pellets, and as of 2017, were expected to become the second and third largest global markets for wood pellets due to government policies favoring the use of biomass in power generation. Demand for wood fuel in

4356-658: The Ashley heater , a thermostatically controlled stove with an optional perforated steel enclosure that prevented accidental contact with hot surfaces. The decade also saw a number of dual-fuel furnaces and boilers made, which utilized ductwork and piping to deliver heat throughout a house or other building. The growth in popularity of wood heat also led to the development and marketing of a greater variety of equipment for cutting, splitting and processing firewood. Consumer grade hydraulic log splitters were developed to be powered by electricity, gasoline, or PTO of farm tractors. In 1987

4488-671: The Baltic countries (Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia). In Finland , there is a growing interest in using wood waste as fuel for home and industrial heating, in the form of compacted pellets . Many lower- and middle-income countries rely on wood for energy purposes (notably cooking). The largest producers are all in these income groups and have large populations with a high reliance on wood for energy: in 2021, India ranked first with 300 million m ³ (15 percent of total production), followed by China with 156 million m3 and Brazil with 129 million m ³ (8 percent and 7 percent of global production). In

4620-606: The Blackfoot and Cree knew about the "black rock that burned." After colonizers reported coal in the area, a handful of ranchers and homesteaders dug out the coal for their homes. Sam Drumheller started the coal rush in this area when he bought the land from a local rancher, which he then sold to the Canadian National Railway . Sam Drumheller also registered a coal mine. However, before his mine opened Jesse Gouge and Garnet Coyle beat him to it by opening

4752-459: The Delhi area of India were shown to be 30 times more reactive with the hydroxyl radical than emissions from liquefied petroleum gas . Furthermore, when comparing 21 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons emitted from the same fuel wood samples from Delhi , emissions from fuel wood were around 20 times more toxic than emissions from liquefied petroleum gas . In some of the most efficient burners,

4884-722: The East India Company setting up operations in the Raniganj Coalfield along the Western bank of river Damodar . Due to a lack of demand growth was sluggish until 1853, with the introduction of steam locomotives to the fast-expanding rail system. As late as 1895, India imported large quantities of coal from Britain, but as domestic production increased and was found to be suitable for locomotives and ships, demand for coal imports declined dramatically. India's export of coal increased, especially to Burma, Ceylon, and

5016-612: The High Middle Ages , numerous Imperial States along the river emerged from the former stem duchy of Lotharingia , without developing any common political or cultural identity. A "Rhineland" conceptualization can be traced to the period of the Holy Roman Empire from the sixteenth until the eighteenth centuries when the Empire's Imperial Estates (territories) were grouped into regional districts in charge of defence and judicial execution, known as Imperial Circles . Three of

5148-490: The Industrial Revolution , and coal provided the main source of primary energy for industry and transportation in industrial areas from the 18th century to the 1950s. Coal remains an important energy source. Coal is also mined today on a large scale by open pit methods wherever the coal strata strike the surface or are relatively shallow. Britain developed the main techniques of underground coal mining from

5280-693: The Newcastle Mine . Once the railway was built thousands of people came to mine this area. By the end of 1912, there were nine working coal mines, in Newcastle , Drumheller, Midland , Rosedale , and Wayne . In years to follow more mines sprang up: Nacmine , Cambria , Willow Creek, Lehigh, and East Coulee . The timing of the Drumheller mine industry was "lucky" according to the Atlas National Historical Site, in that

5412-769: The North German plain is marked by the lower Ruhr . In the south, the river cuts the Rhenish Massif . The area encompasses the western part of the Ruhr industrial region and the Cologne Lowland . Some of the larger cities in the Rhineland are Aachen , Bonn , Cologne , Duisburg , Düsseldorf , Essen , Koblenz , Krefeld , Leverkusen , Mainz , Mönchengladbach , Mülheim an der Ruhr , Oberhausen , Remscheid , Solingen , Trier and Wuppertal . Toponyms as well as local family names often trace back to

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5544-583: The Rhine Province . The western part of the Rhineland was occupied by Entente forces from the end of the First World War until 1930. Under the 1919 Treaty of Versailles , German military presence in the region was banned, a restriction which the government of Weimar Germany pledged to honor in the 1925 Locarno Treaties . Nazi Germany remilitarized the territory in 1936 as part of

5676-544: The Romans were exploiting all major coalfields (save those of North and South Staffordshire ) by the late 2nd century AD. While much of its use remained local, a lively trade developed along the North Sea coast supplying coal to Yorkshire and London . This also extended to the continental Rhineland , where bituminous coal was already used for the smelting of iron ore . It was used in hypocausts to heat public baths ,

5808-560: The South Wales coalfield , and Scotland . The small-scale techniques were unsuited to the increasing demand, with extraction moving away from surface extraction to deep shaft mining as the Industrial Revolution progressed. As steamships traveled overseas from the industrialized countries of Europe their need for coal served as trigger for coal mining to start at various locations across the globe. An example of this

5940-580: The US Department of Agriculture published a method for producing kiln dried firewood, on the basis that better heat output and increased combustion efficiency can be achieved with logs containing lower moisture content. The magazine "Wood Burning Quarterly" was published for several years before changing its name to "Home Energy Digest" and, subsequently, disappearing. A pellet stove is an appliance that burns compressed wood or biomass pellets . Wood heat continues to be used in areas where firewood

6072-526: The United Mine Workers union had recently won the right for better working conditions. As a result of union action, child labour laws were passed to prevent boys under 14 years old working underground. Miners' camps in this area were called "hell's holes" because miners lived in tents and shacks. These camps were filled with drinking, gambling and watching fistfights as forms of recreation. With time, living conditions improved: little houses took

6204-533: The United States is principally driven by residential and commercial heating customers. Canada was not a major consumer of industrial wood pellets as of 2017, but has relatively aggressive de-carbonization policies and may become a significant consumer of industrial wood pellets by the 2020s. Rhineland The Rhineland ( German : Rheinland [ˈʁaɪ̯nˌlant] ; Dutch : Rijnland ; Kölsch : Rhingland ; Latin : Rhenania )

6336-637: The Zagłębie Dąbrowskie on the Russian side of the border. In modern times coal is still considered a strategic resource for Poland's economy. It covers roughly 65% of energetic needs. Before and after World War II Poland has been one of the major coal producers worldwide, usually listed among the five largest. However, after 1989 the coal production is in decline, with the overall production for 1994 reaching 132 million metric tons, 112 million metric tons in 1999 and 104 million metric tons in 2002. From

6468-430: The depolymerisation reaction of lignin such as phenolics, furans and furanones. The combustion of fuel wood has also been shown to release many organic compounds into the aerosol phase. The burning of fuel woods has been shown to release organic components over a range of volatilities, over effective saturation concentrations, C *, from 10 -10 μg m . The emissions from fuel wood samples collected from

6600-420: The fireplace allowed for more effective exhaustion of the smoke. Masonry heaters or stoves went a step further by capturing much of the heat of the fire and exhaust in a large thermal mass, becoming much more efficient than a fireplace alone. The metal stove was a technological development concurrent with the Industrial Revolution . Stoves were manufactured or constructed pieces of equipment that contained

6732-524: The 1860s large deposits in the Don Basin ("Donbas") in southern Russia supplied 87% of Russia's coal. It was used by railways and the iron and steel industry. After 1900 smaller deposits near Dombrovo, Zabaikal and Cheremkhovo in Siberia were opened. Small older mines south of Moscow also operated. Coal production was controlled by inefficient Russo-British syndicates, and there were shortages of workers, so

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6864-760: The British colony at Boston. The Industrial Revolution , which began in Britain in the 18th century, and later spread to continental Europe , North America , and Japan , was based on the availability of coal to power steam engines . International trade expanded exponentially when coal-fed steam engines were built for the railways and steamships during the Victorian era . Coal was cheaper and much more efficient than wood fuel in most steam engines. Because central and Northern England contains an abundance of coal, many mines were situated in these areas, as well as in

6996-491: The British took control of the area in the mid 1700s and encouraged permanent settlements in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario by British Loyalists. Beginning in 1765, over 11,000 Loyalists settled in N.B., most along the lower 100 miles of the Saint John River and around Grand Lake. Approximately 200,000 tons of coal were dug at Grand Lake between 1639 and 1887 using surface collection, vertical shafts and

7128-508: The CO 2 by integrating the hydrocarbons of the wood into their life cycle. Wood harvesting and transport operations produce varying degrees of greenhouse gas pollution. Inefficient and incomplete combustion of wood can result in elevated levels of greenhouse gases other than CO 2 , which may result in positive emissions where the byproducts have greater Carbon dioxide equivalent values. In an attempt to provide quantitative information about

7260-940: The East bank of the Rhine, between the Main and the Lahn, were the settlements of the Mattiaci , a branch of the Germanic Chatti , while farther to the north were the Usipetes and Tencteri . Julius Caesar conquered the Celtic tribes on the West bank, and Augustus established numerous fortified posts on the Rhine, but the Romans never succeeded in gaining a firm footing on the East bank. As

7392-952: The Foord Pit which by 1866 was the deepest coal mine in the world. Coal mining also developed in Springhill and Joggins in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia . After the GMA monopoly expired, the largest and longest lasting mines developed at Cape Breton in Nova Scotia . Nova Scotia was the major supplier of Canadian coal until 1945. At its peak in 1949 25,000 miners dug 17 million metric tons of coal from Nova Scotian mines. The miners, who lived in company towns, became politically active in left-wing politics during labour struggles for safety and fair wages. Westray Mine near Stellarton closed in 1992 after an explosion killed 26 miners. All

7524-773: The Frankish heritage. The lands on the western shore of the Rhine are strongly characterized by Roman influence, including viticulture . In the core territories, large parts of the population are members of the Catholic Church . At the earliest historical period, the territories between the Ardennes and the Rhine were occupied by the Treveri , the Eburones and other Celtic tribes , who, however, were all more or less modified and influenced by their Germanic neighbors. On

7656-668: The Government of Western Australia states that the energy content of wood is 16.2 megajoules per kilogram (4.5 kWh/kg). According to The Bioenergy Knowledge Centre , the energy content of wood is more closely related to its moisture content than its species. The energy content improves as moisture content decreases. In 2008, wood for fuel cost $ 15.15 per 1 million BTUs (0.041 EUR per kWh). As with any fire , burning wood fuel creates numerous by-products, some of which may be useful (heat and steam), and others that are undesirable, irritating or dangerous. One by-product of wood burning

7788-536: The Hunter River after coal was found there in 1795. In 1804 the Sydney-based administration established a permanent convict settlement near the mouth of the Hunter River to mine and load the coal, predetermining the town's future as a coal port by naming it Newcastle. Today, Newcastle, NSW, is the largest coal port in the world. Now the state of Queensland is Australia's top coal producer, with its Bowen Basin

7920-513: The Malay states. By 1900 production had risen to an annual average of 1 million tonne (mt) and India was producing 6.12 mts. per year by 1910 and 18 mts per year by 1920. Temporary wartime demand (1914–1918) was followed by a slump in the 1930s. The production reached a level of 29 mts. by 1942 and 30 mts. by 1946. After India became independent, the new government stressed the rapid growth of heavy industry. The National Coal Development Corporation

8052-693: The Rhine and within 50 kilometers east of the Rhine. In 1920, under massive French pressure, the Saar was separated from the Rhine Province and administered by the League of Nations until a plebiscite in 1935, when the region was returned to Germany. At the same time, in 1920, the districts of Eupen and Malmedy were transferred to Belgium (see German-Speaking Community of Belgium ). In January 1923, in response to Germany's failure to meet its reparations obligations , French and Belgian troops occupied

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8184-505: The Rhineland and other regions along the Rhine. German territory west of the Rhine had been off-limits to the German military. In 1945, the Rhineland was the scene of major fighting as the Allied forces overwhelmed the German defenders. In 1946, the Rhineland was divided into the newly founded states of Hesse , North Rhine-Westphalia , and Rhineland-Palatinate . North Rhine-Westphalia

8316-589: The Rhineland disintegrated into numerous small independent principalities, each with its separate vicissitudes and special chronicles. The old Lotharingian divisions became obsolete, and while the Lower Lorraine lands were referred to as the Low Countries , the name of Lorraine became restricted to the region on the upper Moselle that still bears it. After the Imperial Reform of 1500/12,

8448-450: The Rhineland until 1814 and radically and permanently liberalized the government, society and economy. The Coalition of France's enemies made repeated efforts to retake the region, but France repelled all the attempts. The French swept away centuries worth of outmoded restrictions and introduced unprecedented levels of efficiency. The chaos and barriers in a land divided and subdivided among many different petty principalities gave way to

8580-634: The Ruhr district, strictly controlling all important industrial areas. The Germans responded with passive resistance, which led to hyperinflation , and the French gained very little of the reparations they wanted. French troops left the Ruhr in August 1925. The occupation of the remainder of the Rhineland ended on 30 June 1930. On 7 March 1936, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, German troops marched into

8712-410: The United States and Canada, firewood is usually sold by the cord , 128 ft (3.62 m ), corresponding to a woodpile 8 ft wide × 4 ft high of 4 ft-long logs. The cord is legally defined by statute in most U.S. states. A "thrown cord" is firewood that has not been stacked and is defined as 4 ft wide × 4 ft tall × 10 ft long. The additional volume is to make it equivalent to

8844-402: The United States, wood fuel is the second-leading form of renewable energy (behind hydro-electric ). About 1.5 million households in Australia use firewood as the main form of domestic heating. As of 1995, approximately 1.85 million cubic metres of firewood (1m³ equals approximately one car trailer load) was used in Victoria annually, with half being consumed in Melbourne . This amount

8976-504: The Urals produced only half the fuel needed by local industry. During the war the mines were expanded and over 700 factories were evacuated from the west, greatly increasing the demand for Ural coal. Prisoners from the Gulag were sent to the mines; up to a third of the workers were women. The miners were given much higher rations of food. Output doubled and the share of the region in the total national coal production rose from 8% to 22%. In 1989-91 militant coal miners in Russia and Ukraine were

9108-433: The basis of the rich soils known as Terra preta . The environmental impact of burning wood fuel is debatable. Several cities have moved towards setting standards of use and/or bans of wood burning fireplaces. For example, the city of Montréal, Québec passed a resolution to ban wood fireplace installation in new construction. Wood burning advocates claim that properly harvested wood is carbon-neutral, therefore off-setting

9240-420: The baths in military forts, and the villas of wealthy individuals. Excavation has revealed coal stores at many forts along Hadrian's Wall as well as the remains of a smelting industry at forts such as Longovicium nearby. After the Romans left Britain, in AD 410, there are few records of coal being used in the country until the end of the 12th century. One that does occur is in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for

9372-408: The case of picking up dead wood, or few tools, although as in any industry, specialized tools, such as skidders and hydraulic wood splitters, have been developed to mechanize production. Sawmill waste and construction industry by-products also include various forms of lumber tailings. About half of wood extracted from forests worldwide is used as fuelwood. The discovery of how to make fire for

9504-461: The centuries there was a partial deforestation of climax forests and the evolution of the remainder to coppice with standards woodland as the primary source of wood fuel. These woodlands involved a continuous cycle of new stems harvested from old stumps, on rotations between seven and thirty years. One of the earliest printed books on woodland management, in English, was John Evelyn 's "Sylva, or

9636-422: The coal. Small amounts of coal were dug from surface deposits and tunnels dug into the coal seams, and this coal supplied Fort Saint Marie, built by the French about 1632 at the mouth of the Saint John River. The French sold coal to the British colony at Boston as early as 1639. Due to this earliest export of coal in North America, Grand Lake has been recognized as a Canadian Historic Site . Coal mining expanded after

9768-474: The collection area. The concerns are often specific to the particular area, but can include all the problems that regular logging create. The heavy removal of wood from forests can cause habitat destruction and soil erosion . However, in many countries, for example in Europe and Canada, the forest residues are being collected and turned into useful wood fuels with minimal impact on the environment. Consideration

9900-658: The companies set up welfare systems for them. Their smallish output and the weak Russian railway system centered on the Ekaterininskaia (Krivoi Rog) Railway held back the growth of Russian heavy industry. In the Second World War the loss of 60% of the mining areas to German invaders forced the rapid expansion of mines in the Urals, as well as greater use of mines in the Kuznetsk Basin in Siberia. In 1939

10032-471: The consumption rate is controlled to sustainable levels. The shortage of suitable firewood in some places has seen local populations damaging huge tracts of bush possibly leading to further desertification . Wood burning creates more atmospheric CO 2 than biodegradation of wood in a forest (in a given period) because by the time the bark of a dead tree has rotted, the log has already been occupied by other plants and micro-organisms which continue to sequester

10164-560: The course of several years' use. The Franklin stove was developed in the United States by Benjamin Franklin . More a manufactured fireplace than a stove, it had an open front and a heat exchanger in the back that was designed to draw air from the cellar and heat it before releasing it out the sides. The heat exchanger was never a popular feature and was omitted in later versions. So-called "Franklin" stoves today are made in

10296-408: The day. Airtight stoves became common in the 19th century. Use of wood heat declined in popularity with the growing availability of other, less labor-intensive fuels. Wood heat was gradually replaced by coal and later by fuel oil , natural gas and propane heating except in rural areas with available forests. After the 1967 Oil Embargo , many people in the United States used wood as fuel for

10428-418: The design of domestic hearths. Edward III was the first king to take an interest in the coal trade of the north east, issuing a number of writs to regulate the trade and allowing the export of coal to Calais . The demand for coal steadily increased in Britain during the 15th century, but it was still mainly being used in the mining districts, in coastal towns or being exported to continental Europe. However, by

10560-647: The east of the river fell to East Francia , while that to the west remained with the kingdom of Lotharingia . By the time of Emperor Otto I (d. 973) both banks of the Rhine had become part of the Holy Roman Empire , and in 959 the Rhenish territory was divided between the duchies of Upper Lorraine , on the Mosel, and Lower Lorraine on the Meuse. As the central power of the Holy Roman Emperor weakened,

10692-542: The end of 2014. In 2013, the main pellet consumers in Europe were the UK, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and Belgium, as U.E.'s annual report on biofuels states. In Denmark and Sweden, pellets are used by power plants, households and medium scale consumers for district heating, compared to Austria and Italy, where pellets are mainly used as small - scale private residential and industrial boilers for heating. The UK

10824-414: The fire on all sides and provided a means for controlling the draft—the amount of air allowed to reach the fire. Stoves have been made of a variety of materials. Cast iron is among the more common. Soapstone ( talc ), tile , and steel have all been used. Metal stoves are often lined with refractory materials such as firebrick , since the hottest part of a woodburning fire will burn away steel over

10956-476: The firebox, which acts to cool the fire and leads to incomplete combustion. Outdoor wood boilers also typically have short stack heights in comparison to other wood-burning appliances, contributing to ambient levels of particulates at ground level. An increasingly popular alternative is the wood gasification boiler, which burns wood at very high efficiencies (85-91%) and can be placed indoors or in an outbuilding. There are numerous ways to process wood fuel, and wood

11088-431: The first time. The EPA provided information on clean stoves, which burned much more efficiently. A brief resurgence in popularity occurred during and after the 1973 energy crisis , when some believed that fossil fuels would become so expensive as to preclude their use. A period of innovation followed, with many small manufacturers producing stoves based on designs old and new. Notable innovations from that era include

11220-458: The form of a bell pit, the extraction working outward from a central shaft, or a technique called room and pillar in which 'rooms' of coal were extracted with pillars left to support the roofs. Both of these techniques however left considerable amount of usable coal behind. The oldest intentional use of black coal was documented in Ostrava, Petřkovice, in a settlement from the older Stone Age on

11352-410: The health of miners, destruction of the landscape from strip mines and mountaintop removal , air pollution, and coal combustion's contribution to global warming . Early coal extraction was small-scale, the coal lying either on the surface, or very close to it. Typical methods for extraction included drift mining and bell pits . As well as drift mines, small scale shaft mining was used. This took

11484-545: The intelligentsia demanded the maintenance of the Napoleonic Code (which stayed in effect for a century). A Prussian influence began on a small scale in 1609 by the occupation of the Duchy of Cleves . A century later, Upper Guelders and Moers also became Prussian. The Congress of Vienna expelled the French and assigned the whole of the lower Rhenish districts to Prussia, who left them in undisturbed possession of

11616-484: The lake and was dug by hand off the surface and from tunnels dug into the seam. About 1631 the French made their fur trading post at the mouth of the Saint John River their main post in Acadia and started construction of a new fort. The main residence at the fort was designed with two 11-foot-wide fireplaces which were stocked with wood and coal from upriver. As early as 1643, the French were sending coal and other supplies to

11748-531: The last of the Drumheller mines. Also nearby, East Coulee School Museum interprets the life of families in mine towns for its visitors. The coal industry in China goes back many centuries. In recent decades it has become the main energy source of what (from 2010) is the world's second-largest economy. Thus China is by far the largest producer of coal in the world, producing over 2.8 billion tons of coal in 2007, or approximately 39.8 percent of all coal produced in

11880-459: The late 18th century onward, with further progress being driven by 19th-century and early 20th-century progress. However, oil and gas were increasingly used as alternatives from the 1860s onward. By the late 20th century, coal was, for the most part, replaced in domestic as well as industrial and transportation usage by oil , natural gas or electricity produced from oil, gas, nuclear power or renewable energy sources. By 2010, coal produced over

12012-549: The liberal institutions to which they had become accustomed under the French. The Rhine Province remained part of Prussia after Germany was unified in 1871. The occupation of the Rhineland took place following the Armistice with Germany of 11 November 1918. The occupying armies consisted of American , Belgian , British and French forces. Under the Treaty of Versailles , German troops were banned from all territory west of

12144-585: The main source of black coal, and plans by miners such as Gina Rinehart to open up the Galilee and Surat Basins to coal mining. China became the main customer. When iron and later steel became important in Wallonia around 1830, the Belgian coal industry had long been established and used steam engines for pumping. The Belgian coalfield lay near the navigable river Meuse , so coal was shipped downstream to

12276-470: The mainstay of the revolutionary forced which finally overthrew the Communist system in 1991. Wood fuel Wood fuel (or fuelwood ) is a fuel such as firewood , charcoal , chips , sheets, pellets , and sawdust . The particular form used depends upon factors such as source, quantity, quality and application. In many areas, wood is the most easily available form of fuel, requiring no tools in

12408-656: The materials that are dug because they are useful, those known as coals are made of earth, and, once set on fire, they burn like charcoal . They are found in Liguria ... and in Elis as one approaches Olympia by the mountain road; and they are used by those who work in metals. The earliest known use of coal in the Americas was by the Aztecs who used coal for fuel and jet (a type of lignite ) for ornaments. In Roman Britain ,

12540-529: The middle of the 16th century supplies of wood were beginning to fail in Britain and the use of coal as a domestic fuel rapidly expanded. In 1575, Sir George Bruce of Carnock of Culross , Scotland , opened the first coal mine to extract coal from a "moat pit" under the sea on the Firth of Forth . He constructed an artificial loading island into which he sank a 40 ft shaft that connected to another two shafts for drainage and improved ventilation. The technology

12672-696: The mining camps to nearby industrial areas was high. The miners split into several unions, with an affiliation to a political party. As a result, the socialist union (affiliated with the Social Democratic Party) competed with Catholic and Communist unions until 1933, when the Nazis took over all of them. After 1945 the socialists came to the fore. Coal was not known during the Mughal rule despite their contact with Europeans. Commercial exploitation began in 1774, John Sumner and Suetonius Grant Heatly of

12804-687: The modern industry in France, starting in 1770 in Languedoc. Labor unions emerged with an emphasis on the safety issue in the late 19th century. In 1885, there were 175 injuries per thousand workers per year. Deaths were low in most years 2 per 1000 workers), but major disaster was always a threat. 1099 men died in the Courrières mine disaster of 1906. The campaign for mine safety enabled miners to break from their peasant psychology and create solidarity that came from sharing dangerous work, and to develop

12936-488: The negative impact of by-product particles given off during the burning process. In the context of forest wildfires, wood removed from the forest setting for use as wood fuel can reduce overall emissions by decreasing the quantity of open burned wood and the severity of the burn while combusting the remaining material under regulated conditions. On March 7, 2018, the United States House of Representatives passed

13068-548: The new efficiency and lowered trade barriers. The Jews were liberated from the ghetto. There was limited resistance; most Germans welcomed the new regime, especially the urban elites, but one sour point was the hostility of the French officials toward the Roman Catholic Church, the choice of most of the residents. The reforms were permanent. Decades later workers and peasants in the Rhineland often appealed to Jacobinism to oppose unpopular government programs, while

13200-486: The place of the tents, and more women joined the men and started families. With new activities such as hockey, baseball and theatre the camps were no longer "hell's holes" but became "the wonder town of the west."[citation needed] Between 1911 and 1979, 139 mines were registered in the Drumheller Valley , of which only 34 were productive for many years. The beginning of the end for the Drumheller mining industry

13332-472: The ports and cities of the Rhine -Meuse- Scheldt delta . The opening of the Saint-Quentin Canal in 1810 allowed coal to go by barge to Paris . The Belgian coalfield outcrops over most of its area, and the highly folded nature of the coal seams, part of the geological Rhenohercynian Zone , meant that surface occurrences of the coal were very abundant. Deep mines were not required at first, so

13464-581: The power of the Roman empire declined the Franks pushed forward along both banks of the Rhine, and by the end of the 5th century had conquered all the lands that had formerly been under Roman influence. By the 8th century, the Frankish dominion was firmly established in western Germania and northern Gaul. On the division of the Carolingian Empire at the Treaty of Verdun the part of the province to

13596-568: The privately owned Grand Lake area coal companies and approximately 1,000 employees were consolidated into one provincial government controlled company named N.B. Coal Ltd.. In 2009, the increasing availability of oil and environmental concerns with coal use caused the closing of the Grand Lake coal mines and New Brunswick's coal mining industry. The first coal mining in Nova Scotia began in the 18th century with small hand-dug mines close to

13728-535: The production of heat from wood chips that would otherwise be made into particleboard, showed that only 239 kg (527 lb) of CO 2 per MWh was released. Therefore, the relative greenhouse effects of biomass energy production are dependent on the usage model. The intentional and controlled charring of wood and its incorporation into the soil is an effective method for carbon sequestration as well as an important technique to improve soil conditions for agriculture, particularly in heavily forested regions. It forms

13860-483: The purpose of burning wood is regarded as one of humanity's most important advances. The use of wood as a fuel source for heating is much older than civilization and is assumed to have been used by Neanderthals . Today, burning of wood is the largest use of energy derived from a solid fuel biomass . Wood fuel can be used for cooking and heating , and occasionally for fueling steam engines and steam turbines that generate electricity . Wood may be used indoors in

13992-856: The relative output of CO 2 to produce electricity or domestic heating, the United Kingdom Department of Energy and Climate Change ( DECC ) has published a comprehensive model comparing the burning of wood (wood chip) and other fuels, based on 33 scenarios. The model's output is kilogram of CO 2 produced per megawatt-hour (MWh) of delivered energy. Scenario 33 for example, which concerns the production of heat from wood chips produced from UK small roundwood produced from bringing neglected broadleaf forests back into production, shows that burning oil releases 377 kg (831 lb) of CO 2 while burning woodchips releases 1,501 kg (3,309 lb) of CO 2 per MWh of delivered energy. However, in scenario 32 of that same reference, which concerns

14124-533: The room and pillar system. By 1920, the use of draglines and other modern equipment made strip mining possible and the privately owned Grand Lake area mines produced over 200,000 tons per year. Most of this coal was used by the railroad and large businesses. By 1936, a coal-burning electric power generating plant at Newcastle Creek was operating with two 33,000 volt lines going to Fredericton and one 66,000 volt line going to Marysville. By 1950, coal production at Grand Lake often reached 1 million tons per year. In 1969, all

14256-692: The same state, the volume of a face cord may be considerably different. Hence, it is risky to buy wood sold in this manner, as the transaction is not based on a legally enforceable unit of measure. In Australia, firewood is normally sold by the tonne , but is commonly advertised as sold by the barrowload (wheelbarrow), bucket ( 1 ⁄ 3 of a 1 m bucket of a typical skid-steer ), ute -load or bag (roughly 15–20 kg). A common hardwood, red oak, has an energy content ( heat value ) of 14.9 mega joules per kilogram (6,388 BTU per pound), and 10.4 mega joules recoverable if burned at 70% efficiency. The Sustainable Energy Development Office (SEDO), part of

14388-627: The sea at Joggins, Nova Scotia and in the Sydney area of Cape Breton Island . Large scale coal mining began in the late 1830s when the General Mining Association (GMA), a group of English mining investors, obtained a coal mining monopoly in Nova Scotia. They imported the latest in mining technology including steam water pumps and railways to develop large mines in the Stellarton area of Pictou County, Nova Scotia , including

14520-602: The south, this area, except for the Saarland , more or less corresponds with the modern use of the term. The southern and eastern parts are mainly hill country ( Westerwald , Hunsrück , Siebengebirge , Taunus and Eifel ), cut by river valleys, principally the Middle Rhine up to Bingen (or very rarely between the confluence with the Neckar and Cologne ) and its Ahr , Moselle and Nahe tributaries. The border of

14652-811: The steel industry. An announced re-organisation of the Belgian coal mines in 1965 resulted in strikes and a revolt which led to the death of two coal miners in 1966 at the Zwartberg mine. Coal was mined in the Liège basin until 1980, in the Southern Wallonian basin until 1984, and in the Campine basin until 1992. Canadian coal mining started in New Brunswick and also occurred in Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan. The United States has been

14784-524: The stoves and thus they were popular for over one hundred years. The action of the fire, combined with the causticity of the ash, ensured that the stove would eventually disintegrate or crack over time. Thus a steady supply of stoves was needed. The maintenance of stoves, needing to be blacked, their smokiness, and the need to split wood meant that oil or electric heat found favour. The airtight stove , originally made of steel, allowed greater control of combustion, being more tightly fitted than other stoves of

14916-434: The subsurface mines were closed by 2001, although some open pit coal mining continues near Stellarton. The Nova Scotia Museum of Industry at Stellarton explores the history of mining in the province from its location on the site of the Foord Pit. Coal was easy to find in what is now Drumheller , Alberta , Canada. The Atlas Coal Mine National Historic Site has turned this coalfield into a museum. This museum interprets how

15048-649: The temperature of the smoke is hot enough to burn itself (e.g. 609 °C (1,128 °F) for igniting carbon monoxide gas). This may significantly reduce smoke hazards while also providing additional heat from the process. By using a catalytic converter , the temperature for obtaining cleaner smoke can be reduced. Some U.S. jurisdictions prohibit sale or installation of stoves that do not incorporate catalytic converters. Depending on population density, topography, climatic conditions and combustion equipment used, wood heating may substantially contribute to air pollution , particularly particulates . The conditions in which wood

15180-788: The ten circles through which the Rhine flowed referred to the river in their names: the Upper Rhenish Circle , the Electoral Rhenish Circle and the Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle (very roughly equivalent to the present-day German federal state of North Rhine Westphalia ). In the twilight period of the Empire, after the War of the First Coalition , a short-lived Cisrhenian Republic was established (1797–1802). The term covered

15312-469: The territory was part of the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian , Upper Rhenish , and Electoral Rhenish Circles . Notable Rhenish Imperial States included: In spite of its dismembered condition and the sufferings it underwent at the hands of its French neighbors in various periods of warfare, the Rhenish territory prospered greatly and stood in the foremost rank of German culture and progress. Aachen

15444-465: The top of Landek Hill. According to radiocarbon dating, the site falls within the period 25,000–23,000 years BC. Archeological evidence in China indicates surface mining of coal and household usage after approximately 3490 BC. The earliest reference to the use of coal in metalworking is found in the geological treatise On stones (Lap. 16) by the Greek scientist Theophrastus (c. 371–287 BC): Among

15576-465: The transition in England from wood to coal. One name these opponents gave to the new fuel was "the devil's excrement." If the coal had a high sulfur content, such a description was quite apt. North American coal deposits were first discovered by French explorers and fur traders along the shores of Grand Lake in central New Brunswick, Canada in the 1600s. Coal seams were exposed where rivers flowed into

15708-601: The whole French conquered territory west of the Rhine (German: Linkes Rheinufer ), but also including a small portion of the bridgeheads on the eastern banks. After the collapse of the French empire , the regions of Jülich-Cleves-Berg and Lower Rhine were annexed to the Kingdom of Prussia . In 1822 the Prussian administration reorganized the territory as the Rhine Province ( Rheinprovinz , also known as Rhenish Prussia),

15840-517: The widespread use of coal in Yuan dynasty China in the late 13th century in The Travels of Marco Polo , remarking that coal was the primary fuel of the land and that it helped support heated baths for the citizenry beyond what wood would be able to do. During the first half of the 14th century coal began to be used for domestic heating in coal producing areas of Britain, as improvements were made in

15972-413: The woodland craftsmen were converted to charcoal . As with most of Europe, these managed woodlands continued to supply their markets right up to the end of World War Two. Since then much of these woodlands have been converted to broadscale agriculture. Total demand for fuel increased considerably with the Industrial Revolution but most of this increased demand was met by the new fuel source coal , which

16104-415: The world during that year. For comparison, the second largest producer, the United States, produced more than 1.1 billion tons in 2007. An estimated 5 million people work in China's coal-mining industry. As many as 20,000 miners die in accidents each year. Most Chinese mines are deep underground and do not produce the surface disruption typical of strip mines. Pierre-Francois Tubeuf laid the foundations of

16236-468: The year 852 when a rent including 12 loads of coal is mentioned. In 1183 a smith was given land for his work, and was required to "raise his own coal" Shortly after the granting of the Magna Carta , in 1215, coal began to be traded in areas of Scotland and the north-east England, where the carboniferous strata were exposed on the seashore, and thus became known as "sea coal". This commodity, however,

16368-615: Was 1,065 meters (3,494 ft) deep, probably the deepest coal mine in Europe at this time. Gas explosions were a serious problem, and Belgium had high coal miner fatality rates. By the late 19th century the seams were becoming exhausted, and the steel industry was importing some coal from the Ruhr . André Dumont's discovery in 1900 of coal in the Campine basin, in the Belgian Province Limburg, prompted entrepreneurs from Liège to open coal mines, mainly producing coal for

16500-533: Was down to 73 million short tons (66 Mt), growing to 130(120 Mt) in 1940. Output peaked in 1957 (at 123 million(112 Mt)), declining to 78 million short tons (71 Mt) in 1974. At the end of 2010 five coal mines were producing in Germany. The last hard coal mine in Germany closed on December 21, 2018. The miners in the Ruhr region were divided by ethnicity (with Germans and Poles) and religion (Protestants and Catholics). Mobility in and out of

16632-665: Was established in Szczakowa near Jaworzno in 1767. In 19th century development of iron, copper and lead mining and processing in southern Poland (notably in the Old-Polish Industrial Region and later in the region of Silesia ) led to a quick development of coal mining. Among the most prominent deposits are those located in what are now the Upper Silesian Industrial Region and Rybnik Coal Area (formerly part of Prussia ) and

16764-435: Was far in advance of any coal mining method in the late medieval period and was considered one of the industrial wonders of the age. During the 17th century a number of advances in mining techniques were made, such as the use of test boring to find suitable deposits and chain pumps , driven by water wheels , to drain the collieries. People who sold wood, or those who preferred the smell of wood smoke to coal smoke, opposed

16896-595: Was founded in 1956 (as a Government of India undertaking). The founding of this body was major step in the development of an indigenous Indian coal sector. Especially important was the development of the vast Dhanbad coal-mining complex with such major operations as Tata Steel, BCCL, ECL and IISCO (Indian Iron And Steel Company), as well as the Indian School of Mines IIT (ISM) Dhanbad to train engineers, geologists and managers. The first permanent coal mine in Poland

17028-451: Was more compact and more suited to the larger scale of the new industries. During the Edo period of Japan, wood was used for many purposes, and the consumption of wood led Japan to develop a forest management policy during that era. Demand for timber resources was on the rise not only for fuel, but also for construction of ships and buildings, and consequently deforestation was widespread. As

17160-399: Was not suitable for use in the type of domestic hearths then in use and was mainly used by artisans for lime burning , metal working and smelting. As early as 1228, sea coal from the north-east was being taken to London. During the 13th century, the trading of coal increased across Britain and by the end of the century most of the coalfields in England, Scotland and Wales were being worked on

17292-545: Was the discovery of oil at Leduc No. 1 in 1947, after which natural gas became the predominant fuel for heating homes in western Canada. As the demand for coal dropped, mines closed and communities suffered. Some communities, Willow Creek for example, completely vanished while others went from boomtowns to ghost towns. Atlas #4 Mine shipped its last load of coal in 1979, after which the Atlas Coal Mine National Historic Site has preserved

17424-542: Was the place of coronation of the German emperors, and the ecclesiastical principalities of the Rhine played a large role in German history. At the Peace of Basel in 1795, the whole of the left bank of the Rhine was taken by France. The population was about 1.6 million in numerous small states. In 1806, the Rhenish princes all joined the Confederation of the Rhine , a puppet of Napoleon. France took direct control of

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