Why does coal burn so well

I know how coal forms, but when it comes to why it burns so well, I was only told that it contains all of the sun's energy that was stored within the plants that became it. Can someone please explain this? Is there some sort of chemical in coal that somehow serves as a super-battery for the sun's energy? And what energy exactly is it storing?

coal is carbon (mostly) and when there is an initial heat (match fire or something similar, or even intense heat), it reacts with the oxygen in the air to produce carbon dioxide (mostly), the reaction rate is pretty high and as long as there is a supply of fresh air, it gets enough oxygen to burn/react. and the process of burning releases more heat and light (that's the fire you see, just incandescent air around the reacting carbon/coal).

there is a very easy way (well, relatively speaking) to show/prove that burning of coal is nothing but reaction (called oxidation in this particular case). if you put the coal in a vacuum, (or even in a tightly closed metal box) and then start the fire it won't burn for lack of oxygen which is absolutely necessary for the process (in case of the box, it burns for a short time till the oxygen lasts, then the fire dies).

hope it helps.

obelix is correct. It isn't because it contains stored solar energy. It is simply because it contains mostly unoxygenated carbon which is flamable. If coal formed from the metamorphosis of ancient bogs then that carbon came from plants which removed the carbon from the atmosphere in the process of photosyntheses which does involve solar energy.

I almost hate to say this because most people don't understand the theories involved but there are alternate theories of high grade coal formation. We don't know they came from ancient plants. Certainly low grade coals such as lignite did. There is an alternate theory that high grade coal formed from abiogenic methane. it is improper in a scientific sense to claim something as a fact when it is a theory.