Coal

Coal is a refined resource used primarily as fuel for the Medium Generator. It is obtained by smelting Organic in a Smelter, and it serves as a more efficient power source than raw Organic when portable power is needed. Coal can also be placed in an Investigation Chamber for 75 Bytes.

Compared with Organic, Coal produces more power overall. A Medium Generator running on Coal lasts 100 seconds at 3U/s, producing 300 units of power. By contrast, Organic in a Small Generator produces 100 units over the same duration, so Coal is the stronger option when a single item slot needs to deliver more power. Smelting Organic into Coal costs 60 units of power in a Smelter, which means the gain in usable power is significant.

Coal is especially useful on long expeditions and when carrying compact power reserves. It has the highest consumable power output per T1 slot among practical portable power items, but the Medium Generator itself occupies a T2 slot, so it is not always the most space-efficient choice if storage is extremely limited. In that case, carrying Organic can store more total power per space used, while Coal becomes better once the available space starts to exceed that threshold.

• Coal is used to craft items.
• It can be burned in a Medium Generator to produce power.
• It yields 75 Bytes in an Investigation Chamber.
• Smelting Organic into Coal increases its effective power value.
• For long trips, Coal is a strong choice when you want compact, ready-to-use power rather than raw fuel.

Before update 0.10.1, Coal existed as a solid fuel item for the Medium Generator and was considered valuable as a trade resource, with a value comparable to Titanium. After that update, it was removed and replaced by Carbon.