Friends of Coal - Kentucky

Friends of Coal - Kentucky Supporting Kentucky coal and miners. Advocacy, education & community.


https://linktr.ee/friendsofcoalky

The Friends of Coal is a volunteer organization dedicated to educating the public about the importance of coal!

Before there were oil wells, lamp light came from a coal seam. In the 1850s chemists distilled a clear burning fluid fro...
08/21/2026

Before there were oil wells, lamp light came from a coal seam. In the 1850s chemists distilled a clear burning fluid from cannel coal — a dense, oily coal that catches like a candle — and by 1860 dozens of American refineries were making lamp fuel this way, drawing on cannel from Kentucky and elsewhere. Drake's oil well ended the business inside a few years, but the name stuck: folks called lamp fuel coal oil for years after.

Kentucky's miners moved nearly 6 million tons of coal in the second quarter — about 3% more than a year ago, according t...
08/19/2026

Kentucky's miners moved nearly 6 million tons of coal in the second quarter — about 3% more than a year ago, according to the Energy and Environment Cabinet. Henderson County led the Commonwealth at nearly 1.9 million tons, with Hopkins and Union close behind, and Harlan topped the eastern coalfield at 600,000. That is Kentucky coal still coming out of the ground on both sides of the state, and the crews who move it deserve the credit. Harlan County

When the country needed more electricity last year, coal answered. U.S. coal-fired generation rose 13% in 2025 as the po...
08/17/2026

When the country needed more electricity last year, coal answered. U.S. coal-fired generation rose 13% in 2025 as the power sector produced more electricity than in any year on record, according to the Energy Information Administration. Record summer heat, air conditioning, new manufacturing and data centers all pushed demand up — and coal was there to run around the clock, at a fuel cost that competed well against natural gas.

The highest ground in Kentucky is coal country. Black Mountain stands in Harlan County on the Virginia line, about 500 f...
08/14/2026

The highest ground in Kentucky is coal country. Black Mountain stands in Harlan County on the Virginia line, about 500 feet taller than any other mountain in the Commonwealth, looking down on Lynch and Cumberland. The summit is protected: in 1999 Kentucky and several coal operators holding interests on the mountain reached an agreement that took surface mining off the top and set aside more than 1,800 acres at the peak.

Kentucky has two coalfields, and they were made in different places. The Eastern Kentucky Coalfield covers 31 counties a...
08/12/2026

Kentucky has two coalfields, and they were made in different places. The Eastern Kentucky Coalfield covers 31 counties and roughly 13,000 square miles — about a third of the Commonwealth — across the mountains and the Cumberland Plateau. The Western Kentucky Coalfield lies clear across the state in the Illinois Basin, under gentler country near the Green and Ohio rivers. Different seams, different landscapes, one state built on both.

School buses are back on coalfield roads, and Kentucky's stopping rules changed over the summer. Since July 15, drivers ...
08/11/2026

School buses are back on coalfield roads, and Kentucky's stopping rules changed over the summer. Since July 15, drivers must stop for a school or church bus with its stop arm out and red lights flashing — from either direction, on nearly every road, including four-lane highways. The only exception is a four-lane road divided by an unpaved median or a raised barrier. A first offense costs $300. Watch for the buses, and watch for our kids.

The electric age didn't begin with the flip of a switch — it began with a shovelful of coal. On September 4, 1882, Ediso...
08/07/2026

The electric age didn't begin with the flip of a switch — it began with a shovelful of coal. On September 4, 1882, Edison fired up Pearl Street Station in Lower Manhattan, America's first central power plant. Its heart was four coal-fired boilers: the coal made steam, the steam spun the dynamos, and the dynamos lit the first lights on the grid. From that handful of glowing bulbs grew the electrified world we live in today. It all started with coal.

08/07/2026

Our UK alumni getting their professional development hours at PEM 2026

Coal isn't only something we burn — it's a raw material hiding in plain sight. Turn it into coke to make steel, and the ...
08/05/2026

Coal isn't only something we burn — it's a raw material hiding in plain sight. Turn it into coke to make steel, and the leftover coal tar opens a world of uses: the activated carbon that cleans your water and air, the graphite in electrodes and batteries, even lightweight carbon fiber. In Kentucky, UK's Center for Applied Energy Research is working to turn our coal into these high-value materials. There's more in a lump of coal than most folks realize.

Today is Professional Engineers Day, and Kentucky coal runs on engineers. They design the ventilation that keeps air mov...
08/05/2026

Today is Professional Engineers Day, and Kentucky coal runs on engineers. They design the ventilation that keeps air moving underground, the roof support that holds a mine open, and the preparation plants that clean and size every ton. The University of Kentucky has one of only 14 accredited mining engineering programs in the nation — and Friends of Coal license plate sales help send Kentucky students through it. To every engineer in the coalfields: thank you.

Address

880 Corporate Drive, # 101
Lexington, KY
40503

Telephone

(859) 233-4743

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