Table of Contents

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................................ 1
The resource potential of Coal in Ethiopia ............................................................................................................................. 1
The economic viability of coal in Ethiopia .............................................................................................................................. 3
The environmental impacts of coal in Ethiopia ...................................................................................................................... 4
References .............................................................................................................................................................................. 6

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Introduction
Coal is a combustible solid material (sediment, organic rock) that is formed due course of time
by the combined effects of pressure and heat over vegetations. Although the main component of
coal is carbon (70%), there are other contents like oxygen, hydrogen, sulphur and other
impurities which constitute together 30 %. The main parameters used to define coal are calorific
value (CV), ash, moisture, sulphur (www.iea.org).

Fig.1 coal formation (credit to mineral resources department, The Republic of South Africa)

The resource potential of Coal in Ethiopia

The resources of coal are globally concentrated in USA, Russia, China, Australia, India, South
Africa, Ukraine, Serbia, Mongolia and Brazil. South Africa is the richest in coal deposit in Africa.

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Deposits of coal and natural gas are also known to exist in Ethiopia. Lignite coal resources
from three different areas in Ethiopia were estimated to be 61 metric tons. Additional deposits
have been discovered in the western part of the country (Mbendi Information Services, 2000).
Though not to the required level, several geological investigations had been also conducted for
coal by the Geological Survey of Ethiopia and resulted in delineating several coal deposits and
economic considerations appraised the Delbi, Moye and Yayu coal deposits to be the best
whereas, Chilga and Mush valley coal deposit as significant deposits requiring further
investigation. Other coal occurrences such as Gojeb, Chinda, Kindo, Halul and Wake in the
Southern People, Nation, Nationalities, and Wuchale in the Amhara, and Arjo, Nejo and Mendi
in the Oromia National Regional States are worth mentioning. Coal and oil shale are therefore
important mineral resource ready for investment (Ministry of Mines of Ethiopia, 2011).

Coal resources appear to be quite widespread in Ethiopia, with occurrences in at least one-half
of the country's administrative regions. With the possible exception of a recent discovery at
Dilbi in the south-west, the hitherto known deposits are of lignite category with relatively low
heating value, often as low as 1,000 to 2,000 Kcal/kg. Other basic problems with currently
known Ethiopian coal resources are the high ash content and occasionally high sulphur content.
Moreover, the deposits exist in small patches (Mengistu Teferra, 1999).
According to the study made by Changshi China based company, the Yayo Woreda alone
endowed with over 179 million tons of coal potential. Provided that it is possible to produce
100,000 tons of coal per day, the nation can derive a lot from its coal potential for over 40
years. The ministry of mines of mines of Ethiopia claims that there is 430 million potential of
coal in the country.

Fig.2 mineral distribution in Ethiopia (credit to ministry of mines and industry)

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The economic viability of coal in Ethiopia
Coal is the second source of primary energy (roughly 30%), mostly used for power generation
Over 40% of worldwide electricity is produced from coal (www.iea.org). In addition, coal is
used to produce virtually all non-recycled iron. Coal is an affordable, easy to transport, store
and use, plus free of geopolitical tensions.

As per international energy agency, coal is expected to do better in 2017, despite a growing
renewable sector, a surging clean energy demand. Global export has generally decreased while
demand has decreased from previous years unlike that coal is one of the most hated
commodities from a consumer perspective, as it is much dirtier than gas and obviously
renewable. Global coal demand and world energy outlook (WEO) can be seen in the following
graph.
So, the situation indicates investing in coal for energy can boost economy of developing
countries and their citizens. Ethiopia has untapped coal resources but it has made its energy
dependency mostly on biomass and waste so far. According to the data from international
energy agency, it also imports 321 metric ton clean bituminous coal from South Africa for its
domestic supply and fuel consumption. Therefore, it can be imagined that using its coal
potential will benefit the economy of the citizens and the nation at large.

Fig. 2 (credit to Brian Ricketts, 2006)

Before making investments in coal technologies such as integrated gas combined cycle (IGCC),
carbon capture and storage (CCS), and coal-to-liquids (CTL), the availability of coal is
important to understand. Building a new wave of capital-intensive coal plants with the potential
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to generate electricity for 50+ years is a bad investment if coal peaks before the plant’s useful
lifespan is lived out. Share of the total primary energy supply of Ethiopia from 2014 is given
below.

Fig.4 total energy supply of Ethiopia (credit to International energy agency, 2014)
Emerging economies are using coal to raise generating output to meet growing demand though
rising coal output.
Generally, it is believed that there would be 32 million tons of coal in Achebo area. Of the total,
on the average 70 tonnes have been extracted and supplied to Ayka Addis Textile and
Investment Group PLC. Each ton of coal sold at a cost of 67 USD. It helped to reduce 75
percent of foreign currency that the nation spends to buy coal (Allafrica.com).
From Yayo area alone, it is possible to extract world second level coal within a minimum
amount of cost. Besides producing various coals that are serving as an input for fertilizer
factory, it has multifaceted benefits. Especially the coal serves as a substitute for diesel oil and
save foreign currency. Besides that it also serves to generate thermal power, cement and bricks
factory. The natural topography of coal in the Ethiopian context is by far different from others;
and it is possible to produce coal using simple technology and spend reasonable amount of
money.

The environmental impacts of coal in Ethiopia

Though the economic advantages, pulverized coal plants are the most carbon-intensive source
of power generation, and this is a real issue, as CO2 emissions need to be dramatically and
urgently reduced. Whereas more efficient plants are built across the world, the transition from
subcritical to supercritical (and ultra-supercritical) technology is very slow. And even worse
news is that the dramatic reduction of CO2 emissions that our climate targets require is possible

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only through development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. Progress on CCS
is very disappointing.

Despite of data shortcoming in Ethiopia, coal industry is universally under attack as it threatens
public health, strains economy, and is recognized as a driving force behind climate change and
ecological destruction.

Health Impacts & Coal Mining: all coal mining types are unsafe for workers and
communities. Coal presents a serious threat to the safety of a community; threatening both
water bodies (including drinking water) and air quality, worst for Ethiopia. Workers get black
lung disease from breathing in coal dust– it results in shortness of breath, and puts individuals at
risk for emphysema, bronchitis, and fibrosis. Surprisingly, black lung is now on the rise among
coal miners. Beyond posing threats to workers’ safety, pollution from coal-mining is linked to
chronic illness among residents in coal mining communities. It was shown that people living in
coal mining communities: Have a 70 percent increased risk for developing kidney disease.

Health Impacts & Coal Plants: There’s no shortage of data to show that individuals living
near a coal plant are at higher risk for health problems than those who do not live near a plant.

Similar health problems plague every community downwind of a smokestack. Given that coal
plants contribute 67 percent of sulfur dioxide (SO2), 23 percent of nitrogen oxides (NOx), and
34 percent of all mercury emissions in the nation in USA. In Ethiopia, since the technology and
infrastructure to safeguard the health of the public and community is incomparable with USA,
the problem will be higher.

Coal Drives Climate Change and Ecological Destruction: Coal-processing aggravates

global warming pollution; coal mining releases methane (a potent greenhouse gas), carbon
monoxide, and carbon dioxide; and transporting it adds another considerable amount of
nitrogen oxide to the environment. Furthermore, mountaintop removal mining companies
blowup biodiversity in mountains and forests. This can be illustrated by the destruction of Yayo
forest area that were used as carbon sink.

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References
1. www.iea.org
2. Mbendi Information Services, 2000, Ethiopia—Mining—Overview, accessed January 8,
2001, at URL http://www.mbendi.co.za/ indy/ming/af/et/p0005.htm)
3. Ministry of Mines of Ethiopia, 2011
4. Mengistu Teferra, the Ethiopian Economy: Structure, Problems and Policy Issues, pages
197-200, 1999).
5. Brian Ricketts, Focus On Clean Coal, International Energy Agency, 2006.
6. Allafrica.com

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