Fossil fuel energy resources of Ethiopia: Coal deposits

The gravity of Ethiopian energy problem has initiated studies to explore various energy resources in Ethiopia, one among this is the exploration for coal resources. Studies confirmed the presence of coal deposits in the country. The coal-bearing sediments are distributed in the Inter-Trappean and Pre-Trap volcanic geological settings, and deposited in fluvio-lacustrine and paludal environments in grabens and half-grabens formed by a NNE-SSW and NNW-SSE fault systems. Most significant coal deposits are found in the Inter-Trappean geological setting. The coal and coal-bearing sediments reach a maximum thickness of 4 m and 300 m, respectively. The best coal deposits were hosted in sandstone-coal-shale and mudstone-coal-shale facies. The coal formations of Ethiopia are quite unique in that they are neither comparable to the coal measures of the Permo-Carboniferous Karroo Formation nor to the Late Devonian-Carboniferous of North America or Northwestern Europe. Proximate analysis and calorific value data indicated that the Ethiopian coals fall under lignite to high volatile bituminous coal, and genetically are classified under humic, sapropelic and mixed coal. Vitrinite reflectance studies confirmed 0.3-0.64% Ro values for the studied coals. Palynology studies confirmed that the Ethiopian coal-bearing sediments range in age from Eocene to Miocene. A total of about 297 Mt of coal reserve registered in the country. The coal reserve of the country can be considered as an important alternative source of energy.