Hi Tim,
I do a lot of forging with hardwood charcoal and to support the other replys, you can do just about anything with it and it's clean, clean, clean. Forge Welding temperature can be obtained fairly easily with the right fire. I'm not that concerned with the speed at which I use up my fuel, because I have a lot of access to hardwood and I make a lot of my own charcoal. I have also bought bags of it at Lowes, and my local grocery store which carries a lot of hardwood charcoal, especially in the summer months. The charcoal does release a lot of sparks, (fireflies) as mentioned above. I've never come close to starting an unwanted fire from this stuff, although it is better to be safe than sorry. However, I always catch a couple of sparks on the hands and in the face, and they do leave little burns, so protect yourself. Happy Forging!!
Leo33