IC2 Coal fuels the Generator for EU and starts the Coal Dust → Coal Ball → Industrial Diamond compression chain.
Guide
Place IC2 Coal in the Generator's fuel slot to produce EU and power your starter base.
Run one Coal through a Macerator (powered by your Generator) to receive one Coal Dust per piece.
Use a shapeless recipe of 8 Coal Dust plus 1 Flint on the crafting grid to produce a single Coal Ball.
Place the Coal Ball in a Compressor to convert it into a denser Coal Chunk.
Compress the Coal Chunk a second time to receive an Industrial Diamond for circuits and tools.
IC2 Coal remains valid vanilla furnace fuel and a Torch ingredient, so excess stock is never wasted.
IC2 Coal is burned in the IC2 Generator for EU and macerated into Coal Dust, which feeds the Coal Ball and Industrial Diamond chain.
Macerate 8 Coal into 8 Coal Dust, craft a Coal Ball with 1 Flint, then compress the Coal Ball into a Coal Chunk and compress again into an Industrial Diamond.
One Coal burns in the IC2 Generator for the same total energy as in a vanilla furnace, supplying EU steadily until the fuel is consumed.
Yes. IC2 Coal stacks and burns identically to vanilla coal, so it remains valid for smelting and crafting Torches.
IC2 Coal ships with IC2 Experimental and IC2 Classic on Forge, covering Minecraft 1.7.10 through 1.12.2.