High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, or Rosebud coal by Northern Pacific Railroad, is a soft brown fuel with characteristics that put it somewhere between coal and peat. It is considered the lowest rank of coal; it is mined in Germany, Russia, the United States, India, New Zealand, Australia and many European countries, and it is used almost exclusively as a fuel for steam-electric power generation. Up to 50% of Greece`s electricity and 24.6% of Germany`s comes from lignite power plants.