Coal Supply and Cost Under Technological and Environmental Uncertainty

Conventional U.S. energy planning presumes a ready supply of cheap coal and assumes that mining will continue as it has in the past - in shallow and thick seams.  However, as these accessible resources are depleted, thin and deep seams will comprise our remaining resource.  It will become more expensive and environmentally damaging to extract coal.  This talk discusses future U.S. coal availability, resource estimate reliability, potential environmental damage and technologies to extract it in a more responsible manner.