Coal
Natural Resource
The solid combustible ore. Gradually formed by plants through complex biochemical and physical, and chemical changes. It is energy source and raw material for smelting and chemical production.
Summary
Coal (previously called "Coal Ore") is one of the core basic resources. Found commonly throughout the galaxy, it can be harvested and processed on almost any rocky planet. Coal is a byproduct of centuries of bio-matter slowly compressing into a dense carbon mesh.
This makes it useful as a fuel source. It also can be further compressed and refined into other useful products.
It is mined with the Mining Machine.
It is smelted into Energetic Graphite.
Production Chain
| Recipe | Building | Replicator? | Technology |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
✖ | N/A |
Production Upgrades
Each level of the Veins Utilization upgrade increases the mining rate by a flat 10%, and reduces the consumption rate by a compounding 6%.
See here for a table of veins required to fill Belts per level of Veins Utilization.
Used In
| Recipe | Building | Replicator? | Technology |
|---|---|---|---|
   |
✔ |
Player Tips & Tricks
- When considering fuel sources for Thermal Power Stations, Energetic Graphite comes out slightly behind the equivalent of two Coal, with a net loss of 55.25 kJ per Energetic Graphite in the optimal situation of using Sorter Mk.IIIs with Sorter Cargo Stacking V. Manually loading Coal into a Smelter and unloading Energetic Graphite before manually loading it into a Thermal Power Station results in no net difference in energy generated.
- When considering fuel sources for the Mecha, Energetic Graphite comes out slightly ahead of the equivalent of two Coal, with a net gain of 123 kJ per Energetic Graphite in the optimal situation of using Sorter Mk.IIIs with Sorter Cargo Stacking V. Here Coal also looses out due to energy density, with a full Mecha fuel chamber holding 1.08 GJ of energy with Coal, while holding 2.52 GJ with Energetic Graphite, which will also release its energy at a 60% increased rate.
- As such, Coal should be burned directly by Thermal Power Plants, while being smelted into Energetic Graphite for use in the Mecha.
- Coal burns for 1s in the Thermal Power Station, consuming 60 Coal per minute
- 2.7 MJ * 0.8 fuel efficiency / 2.16 MW = 1 s
- Small quantities of Coal can occasionally be found from harvesting dead trees.