Coal in the 21st century: Industry transformation and transition justice in the phaseout of coal-as-fuel and the phase-in of coal as multi-asset resource platforms

作者：David O. Jermain, Raymond C. Pilcher, Zhenhui Ren, Z. Justin Ren, Eugene J. Berardi, Eugene J. Berardi · 发表于：Energy and Climate Change · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1016/j.egycc.2024.100142 · 被引用次数：16 · 研究领域：Coal and Its By-products、Mining and Resource Management、Coal Properties and Utilization

The coal industry is enjoying long-term investments in new coal-fired power generation even as coal mining and production have been declining. Recent conflict in Europe has disrupted energy supplies and reinvigorated coal use. The duration of the retrenchment to coal may be short lived, but the end point of “short lived” remains uncertain. The present state of the coal industry and the investment community that underpins its growth obviates any meaningful acceleration in coal's phaseout as a core fuel resource. However, coal can be recast as a catalyst for achieving clean energy and economy futures. This can be done by seeing coal hydrocarbon deposits and byproducts of coal processing as long-term multi-asset resource platforms (MARPS), which integrate multiple new revenue streams on coal lands other than just mining coal as a fuel. New value comes from repurposing and leveraging mining lands, harvesting minor and trace elements from coal, and creating new revenue from harvesting hydrogen and carbon materials from coal bed methane, raw coal, coal tailings, and fly ash residues. We make the case that Coal Mining Enterprise (CME) value can be enhanced by ending the use of coal-as-fuel and creating new value streams serving existing and emerging markets by fully assessing, evaluating, and utilizing the portfolio of natural resources that are collocated within a typical coalfield. Coal sector investors tend not to see undervaluation in coal assets because CMEs focus predominantly...