Steam coal (sometimes called thermal coal) is a grade of coal used in electric power plants to generate steam to create electricity. Most of the coals mined in the United States are steam coals. Steam coals for power plants must meet quality and heating characteristics of the boiler design and for the design of pollution-control equipment at a power plant.
Grades of steam coal are generally related to sulfur content and ash yield. Typically, the term low-sulfur coal is used for coals with less than 1 percent sulfur. Hence, sulfur is used to define grades of coals that meet emissions standards. Low-ash coals are grades of coal with ash yields below 10 percent. High-ash coals are generally coals above 10 percent ash yield.

White coal is a form of fuel produced by drying chopped wood over a fire. It differs from charcoal which is carbonised wood. It produces more heat than green wood but less than charcoal and thus prevents the lead evaporating. White coal could be used mixed with charcoal for other industrial uses than lead smelting. White coal was produced in distinctive circular pits with a channel, known as Q-pits.

Coking coal, also known as metallurgical coal, is used to create coke, one of the key irreplaceable inputs for the production of steel. There are many varieties of coal in the world, ranging from brown coal or lignite to anthracite. The property that really sets coking coals apart from other coals is its caking ability, which is the specific property required in order to make coke suitable for steel making. Coke is produced by heating coking coals in a coke oven in a reducing atmosphere. As the temperature of the coal increases, it becomes plastic, fusing together before resolidifying into coke particles. This is known as the caking process. The quality of the resultant coke is determined by the qualities of the coking coals used, as well as the coke plant operating conditions.

Wood coal commnly known as Charcoal. Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, called charcoal burning, the heat is supplied by burning part of the starting material itself, with a limited supply of oxygen. The material can also be heated in a closed retort.