Coal will continue to provide a major portion of energy requirements in the United States for at least the next several decades. It is imperative that accurate information describing the amount, location, and quality of the coal resources and reserves be available to fulfill energy needs. It is also important that the United States extract its coal resources efficiently, safely, and in an environmentally responsible manner. A renewed focus on federal support for coal-related research, coordinated across agencies and with the active participation of the states and industrial sector, is a critical element for each of these requirements. Coal focuses on the research and development needs and priorities in the areas of coal resource and reserve assessments, coal mining and processing, transportation of coal and coal products, and coal utilization.

In February 2001 UNEP, in partnership with a variety of industry associations and organizations launched a reporting initiative to gauge progress by the private sector towards sustainable development. This effort contributes to the wider review of progress with the implementation of Agenda 21, under the framework of the World Summit on Sustainable Development. These volumes present sectoral reports on the progress towards sustainable development.

Mark Twain observed, “I'm in favour of progress; it's change I don't like.” Coal dominates Indian energy because it’s available domestically and cheap (especially without a carbon tax). If the global focus is on the energy transition, how does India ensure a just transition? Managing winners and losers will be the single largest challenge for India’s energy policy. Coal is entrenched in a complex ecosystem. In some states, it’s amongst the largest contributors to state budgets. The Indian Railways, India’s largest civilian employer, is afloat because it overcharges coal to offset under-recovery from passengers. Coal India Limited, the public sector miner that produces 85% of domestic coal, is the world’s largest coal miner. But despite enormous reserves, India imports about a quarter of consumption. On the flip side, coal faces inevitable pressure from renewable energy, which is the cheapest option for new builds. However, there is significant coal-based power capacity already in place, some of which is underutilized, or even stranded. Low per-capita energy consumption means India must still grow its energy supply. Before India can phase out coal, it must first achieve a plateau of coal. How this happens cost-effectively and with least resistance isn’t just a technical or economic question, it depends on the political economy of coal and its alternatives. Some stakeholders want to kill coal. A wiser option may be to first clean it up, instead of wishing it away. Across 18 chapters, drawing from leading experts in the field, we examine all aspects of coal’s future in India. We find no easy answers, but attempt to combine the big picture with details, bringing them together to offer a range of policy options.

This book identifies the impact of internal and external stakeholders on the implementation of sustainable development policies in the coal mining sector in Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The book assesses what activities and conditions need to be improved so that sustainable development policies can be more effectively and efficiently implemented. With a specific focus on the hard coal and lignite mining sectors, it examines a broad range of case studies from Eastern European countries and the Commonwealth of Independent States, including Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Kazakhstan, Germany, Spain, France and the United Kingdom, among many more. Beginning with an introduction to sustainable development and stakeholder theory, Part II then examines internal stakeholders, including owners, managers, employees and trade unions. Part III examines external stakeholders, touching upon those directly related to the mining industry, such as customers and mining enterprises, and those not directly associated such as local and regional communities and environmental organisations. The book concludes by proposing a model approach to the management of stakeholders involved in mining enterprises, focusing on improving the process of implementing sustainable development in the mining sector and strengthening the effects of this process. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of the extractive industries, natural resource management and policy and sustainable development.

This book analyzes the international seaborne steam coal trade and investigates resource economics and market structures of the global coal market. It develops a model to analyze pricing structures which are based on the cost minimization principle.

This book offers a multidisciplinary analysis of approach in the field of energy studies of Japan, examining post-closure coal mining towns in Japan and their gentrification. It considers the impact of closures on the agricultural industry, the re-absorption of laid off coal miners into service and industrial sectors, and the gentrification of former coal mines into agricultural farms and communities. It also considers the historical process of gentrification in terms of origins, social history, continuity/discontinuity and cooperation/resistance. The historical background of coal mine closures analyses nostalgic recollection about mine closures and Sakubei's UNESCO drawings of life in the coal mines and other cultural materials related to coal energy and the mining industry in general in Japan.