History of anthracite coal mining in Pennsylvania railroad system made transporting the anthracite exponentially easier, and by the 1860s anthracite coal was regularly supplying urban centers like Philadelphia and New York City and was helping to fuel the American Industrial Revolution. Anthracite and bituminous coal were formed in the eastern and western regions of Pennsylvania respectively during the Pennsylvanian time in the Carboniferous Geological Period (“History of Anthracite Coal Mining”). The Pennsylvania Anthracite Region is in the Valley and Ridge Province of the Appalachian Mountains, with the coal located in the folded and faulted terrain of the Province. The anthracite fields are maintained in synclinal basins that
Anthracite high energy per its weight and burns cleanly with little soot, making it ideal for this purpose. Its high value makes it prohibitively expensive for power plant use. Other uses include the fine particles used as filter media, and as an ingredient in charcoal briquettes. Anthracite is an authorised fuel in terms of the United Kingdom's Clean Air Act 1993, meaning that it can be used within a designated Smoke Control Area such as the central London boroughs. China today mines by far the largest share of global anthracite production, accounting for more than three-quarters of global output. Most Chinese