Coal is down in some places, but is far from dead; forecast to be world's most-used fuel in six years

A coal barge moves on the Ohio River, with coal-fired
electric plants on both sides (WSJ photo by Jeff Sewnsen)

Even though the coal industry has struggled in some areas in recent years, especially in Central Appalachia, coal's future in the U.S. still remains bright, thanks to the growing need for coal in other countries, John Miller and Rebecca Smith report for The Wall Street Journal: "Coal remains the biggest source of fuel for generating electricity in the U.S. and coal exports are growing fast. Even as coal production plunges in the green hills of Appalachia, it is booming in the open-pit mines of Wyoming and under the plains of Illinois and Indiana. Overall, U.S. coal production is projected to remain relatively constant over the next three decades, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration."

Eastern Kentucky and parts of West Virginia have been hit hard by geological, economic and regulatory forces, losing 120,000 coal jobs over the past 20 years, even though "production has increased slightly over that time," Miller and Smith report. Coal companies say Appalachia has become too expensive to mine and have left for places like Wyoming, where two counties account for 40 percent of all coal produced in the U.S. In a companion story, Miller and Smith describe the impact of new air-pollution regulations on the industry.

Some areas have prospered, thanks in large part to China. "Two-thirds of coal's growth will be driven by demand for electricity in China," according to consulting firm Wood Mackenzie, which expects coal to become the world's most-used fuel by 2020. The company's head of global markets said in a recent speech: "China's demand for coal will almost single-handedly propel the growth of coal." U.S. companies are scoring big with exports, having "shipped out 114.2 million tons in 2012, more than triple the level a decade earlier. Coal-export revenue meanwhile jumped to $14.8 billion from $1.6 billion. In 2012, the country's biggest coal customer was Canada, which consumed 42 percent of U.S. exports. Now the top three customers are the Netherlands, Britain and China." (Read more)

UPDATE, Jan. 8: However, the China market may not last. The Chinese government "approved the construction of more than 100 million tonnes of new coal production capacity in 2013 - six times more than a year earlier and equal to 10 percent of U.S. annual usage," David Stanway reports for Reuters. Journal graphic: U.S. coal production by county in 2012; click on it for larger version.