Despite all the demonization, coal has its uses and with current technology, it is clean to use. From Forbes:
The U.S. Coal Export Boom To Asia
There are many, many falsehoods out there about coal. The biggest, of course, is that "coal is dead," an organized effort to scare away potential investors of the world's most vital source of electricity. Indeed, the reality is quite different than what some insist that you believe. In fact, coal is still the main source of power in a leading 18 U.S. states, and still supplies almost 30% of American power. " Does that sound like an energy source that is...."dead?"
Globally, coal is even more alive. "Think the Big Banks Have Abandoned Coal? Think Again." Even a solar magazine admits: "China to add 259 GW of coal capacity, satellite imagery shows." For reference, 259 GW is more than twice the amount of power capacity that mighty Texas has FROM ALL SOURCES.
Now Asia - which accounts for close to 80% of total global coal usage - is increasingly turning to the U.S. to supply coal. We are still the world's third largest coal producer. The U.S. supplies both types, met coal to produce steel and steam coal to produce electricity. "U.S. coal exports increased by 61% in 2017 as exports to Asia more than doubled."
Nuke - specifically LFTR - is the way of the future but we have about 400 years of coal in the ground that we now know about. Here is a great edited video explaining LFTR in five minutes.
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