What is Lignite?
Lignite, shown above, is often refered to as brown coal and is the lowest rank of coal. It is used almost exclusively as a fuel for steam electric power generation. This is because it has a much lower energy density of 10 to 20 MJ/kg compared with black coal, which has an energy density of 24 to 35 MJ/kg, making it uneconomic to transport large distances.
It also has a high inherent moisture content, sometimes as high as 66%, and very high ash content compared with coal.
Carbon dioxide emissions from lignite fired power stations are generally much higher than for comparable black coal operations.
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