# Coal transport: Overview

Unit trains, bulk ships and conveyors moving a heavy, cheap fuel

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_coal_transport/overview/

What this tile covers Moving coal by unit trains, bulk ships, barges, trucks, conveyors and slurry pipelines. Share of use 28% share of world energy carried (2024)

Share of world total energy supply (592 EJ in 2024, Energy Institute Statistical Review 2025, physical energy content) carried at least once by this mode; overlaps allowed, so shares do not add to 100 (calculated) Coal supplied 165.1 EJ in 2024; virtually all of it is moved from mine to user by rail, ship, barge, truck or conveyor, even at mine-mouth plants. About 1.5 billion tonnes were traded across borders in 2025 (IEA). Source: [Statistical Review of World Energy 2025](https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmgsites/sg/pdf/2025/08/2025-statistical-review-of-world-energy.pdf), Energy Institute.

#### Key facts

| **Form** | Solid fuel |
|---|---|

#### Included from the reference tables

- Unit coal trains
- Capesize and Panamax bulk carriers
- Barges, trucks, conveyors and ropeways
- Slurry pipelines

#### Linked to the material world
[Tc Thermal coal](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/thermal_coal/)

#### Also in Solid and nuclear fuels
[FW Firewood and charcoal supply](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_traditional_fuel/)[NFT Nuclear fuel transport](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_nuclear_transport/)

Explore paths from here
 More on this tile in the tabs above: how it works, efficiency and losses, technology advances, value chain, geopolitics and regulation, unit economics, impact on the biosphere.

## Other sections

- [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_coal_transport/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_coal_transport/correlation/index.md)
- [How it works](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_coal_transport/explain/index.md)
- [Efficiency and losses](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_coal_transport/efficiency/index.md)
- [Technology advances](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_coal_transport/advances/index.md)
- [Value chain](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_coal_transport/valuechain/index.md)
- [Geopolitics and regulation](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_coal_transport/geopolitics/index.md)
- [Unit economics](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_coal_transport/economics/index.md)
- [Impact on the biosphere](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_coal_transport/biosphere/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_coal_transport/links/index.md)