COAL Beginning with the data collected by the 12th International Geological Congress in 1913, there have been a number of at tempts to arrive at an estimate of the coal reserves of the world, but consistent results have been handicapped by lack of complete information and by lack of uniformity in the basic premises in volved, especially the ultimate depth to which work may eventu ally be extended. The estimates of world reserves of coal in the table on page 865 are derived from those published by the Reichskohlenrat of Berlin in 1938, to which have been added es timates for Mexico and Brazil, taken from Commodities of Com merce Series No. 3, of the Pan American Union. These estimates include all grades of coal down to a depth of 2,000 metres (6,56o ft.), and are based on the geographical boundaries current at the time of publication, many of which have undergone subsequent alteration. Estimates for Germany, Austria, and France have been reduced somewhat from those of earlier years, while those for Russia have been increased. It will be noted that the reserves listed are not at all uniformly distributed, 50% of the total being in the U.S., 21% in Russia, and 14% in Canada, these three alone accounting for 85% of the total; another o% is found in China, Australia, Germany and Poland, in the proportion of 3% to the first, and 2% each to the others, bringing the total accounted for to 94%, and leaving only 6% scattered among other countries.
On the basis of the reserves as here reported, ignoring the ques tion of grades of coal and losses in mining, and considering only the tonnages involved and the average rate of production dur ing the five years the total world reserves should last for some 5,500 years, those of the United States 9,570 years, Russia 1,920 years, Great Britain 870 years, Germany 52o years, and France 22o years. Of these more heavily industrialized countries, however, some produce a surplus for export, while others must import to cover their current demands. On the basis of consumption alone, the life of the British reserves would be increased by about one-third and the German by about one-ninth, while the French would be reduced by one-third. It must be re membered, though, that all of these figures would be radically changed by any marked and consistent increase or decrease in the consumption rate. Proper allowances for losses in mining would also materially reduce the life factor; in the past, these losses have sometimes been as high as i00%, but current losses are probably of the order of 25-5o%. (G. A. Ro.)