The Coal Industry and Technology
The coal miner of 50 years ago would not recognize today's coal industry. The coal industry has largely replaced manual labor with computerized machinery. Technology and training have increased productivity and improved miner health and safety within the coal industry. At an average salary of $50,000 per year, miners in the coal industry are among the highest paid industrial workers in America. Technological advances in the industry have improved air quality before coal ever leaves the mine. The coal industry is working in tandem with electric utilities and railroads to facilitate efficient transportation. The end result is cleaner, less expensive electricity generation.

The coal industry has dramatically improved thanks to new technologies.

• State-of-the-art continuous mining machines, automated roof supports, long wall systems, and high capacity conveyors, trucks and draglines mean that today's coal industry can produce an average of nearly 52 tons of coal in an eight hour shift, a three-fold increase from nearly 30 years ago (1970 - 12000).

  Source: EIA, Annual Energy Review 2001, T.7.6

Coal Industry Production, 1980-2001

Source: EIA, Annual Energy Review 2001, T.7.1

• The quality of reserves and the surrounding geological conditions are determined before exploration. Space technology, such as satellites and Global Positioning Systems (GPS), originally designed for military navigation, is utilized in the science of surveying and mapping in the coal industry. This helps reduce mining costs by eliminating the need for difficult overland survey work.
  
  
• Machines have become nearly fully automated and some can be run by remote control, and robotics, lasers and computer-controlled equipment are the staples of today's coal industry. All of these technological advances have led to gains in productivity.

Together, the coal industry and electric utilities have created a system that produces coal that is cleaner and blended in accordance with boiler specifications in order to meet complex regulatory standards.

• Many companies in the coal industry have built modern, computerized coal preparation plants at their mines that can remove more than one/third of the impurities from raw coal.
  
  
• New equipment also allows the coal industry to analyze and blend different coals to meet a utility's specific boiler specifications. A better product from the mine makes it easier for power companies to meet the strict requirements of the Clean Air Act.



• New coal industry technologies remove pollutants during the combustion process.



• Technology can convert coal into a cleaner burning gas or liquid.



• Scrubbers reduce pollution in flue gases after combustion.
  
  
• From start to finish, coal is cleaner than ever before in the coal industry thanks to new technologies.