Mineral coal in Song iron smelting
Carbón mineral en la siderurgia Song
- Date
- 1078 · confidence medium
- Place
- Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China
- Credited to
- Song state ironworks (described by Su Shi)
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Faced with a shortage of charcoal, furnaces in northern China switched to mineral coal and possibly coke. Iron production reached about 100,000 tonnes a year by 1078.
The use of coke in Song China (Hartwell) is debated; what is documented with certainty is mineral coal. Europe adopted coke in 1709.
What it led to
- near-industrial-scale iron production in Song China
- deforestation avoided in northern China