Coal (Civ4)

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Coal
Strategic resource
Introduced in Civilization IV
Revealed by	Steam Power
Tile bonus yield	+1
Tile improvements
Mine (available with Mining)
Improvement bonus yield	+1
Allows/Enables
Ironclad, Aluminum Co., Mining Inc., Railroad (improvement)
Effects
Provides with Coal Plant +50% with Ironworks Double production speed for Assembly Plant (Civ4)

Coal is a resource in Civilization IV.

Strategy

Coal provides Production to the city that works it, with a +1 tile bonus yield and an additional +1 bonus with a Mine.

The only unit which requires Coal is the Ironclad. While Coal Plants may be built without access to Coal, they will not provide any Power unless Coal is present in the city. Coal, along with Oil, allows Workers to build railroads. Besides increasing transportation speed, railroads give +1 Production with Lumbermills, Mines, and Quarries. Coal provides an additional +50% Production with the Ironworks.

The Production bonuses of Coal come with significant Unhealthiness penalties. Coal produces +2 Unhealthiness with Factories and +1 Unhealthiness with Industrial Parks. When producing Power, Coal Plants (and Shale Plants) produce +4 Unhealthiness compared to the +2 Unhealthiness with clean power sources. When operational, clean power sources supersede Coal Plants (and Shale Plants), thereby reducing Unhealthiness by 2.

While Power may be provided by alternative means and railroads may be built with Oil, the +50% Production bonus from the Ironworks absolutely requires Coal. If Unhealthiness is a severe issue, it may be desirable to cut off access to Coal by trading it all away or destroying Coal Mines; however, this will result in the loss of the +50% Production Ironworks bonus.

Coal is especially attractive to German players, as it provides double production speed when building the Factory-replacement Assembly Plant.

Coal is also relevant to corporations. Each Coal resource in a city where Aluminum Co. is present provides +3 Science, and each Coal resource in a city where Mining Inc. is present provides +1 Production.

Civilopedia entry

More than 300 million years ago, plant life growing in swamps began to decompose. Layers of sand and mud covered the decomposing plants, and the decaying plants were compressed by the combined weight of water and sediment. Over time, the plant matter hardened and became coal. Coal deposits are mined all over the world, and coal was one of the major fuel sources in the world through the 1970s. In many countries, concern over the environmental effects of the burning of coal has led to a decline in its use. The smoke produced by burning coal has a high acid content, and creates an environmental condition known as "acid rain," which is harmful to plant and animal life. Despite the environmental concerns, some of the largest coal mines in the U.S. each still produce more than 450,000 metric tons annually, making coal mining a very profitable industry.

See also

• Coal in other games