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Coal is a resource in Civilization IV.

Strategy[]

Coal provides Production 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 Power unless Coal is present in the city. Coal, along with Oil Oil, allows Workers to build railroads. Besides increasing transportation speed, railroads give +1 Production Production with Lumbermills, Mines, and Quarries. Coal provides an additional +50% Production Production with the Ironworks.

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

While Power Power may be provided by alternative means and railroads may be built with Oil Oil, the +50% Production Production bonus from the Ironworks absolutely requires Coal. If Unhealthiness 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 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 Science, and each Coal resource in a city where Mining Inc. is present provides +1 Production 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[]

Civilization IV Resources [edit]
Luxury Dye Fur Gems Gold Hit Movies Hit Musicals Hit Singles Incense Ivory Silk Silver Spices Sugar Whale Wine
Bonus Banana Clam Corn Cow Crab Deer Fish Pig Rice Sheep Wheat
Strategic Aluminum Coal Copper Horse Iron Marble Oil Stone Uranium