UtiliPoint On Coal

Thanks to Chiasm for this UtiliPoint International article about changes in coal production and consumption. Briefly, in the U.S., there's western coal (low-sulfur but fairly moist, thus lower energy content) and eastern coal (higher sulfur but dryer). Sulfur emissions regulations have increased interest in western coal, but sulfur treatment processing means higher energy eastern coal can still be competitive. Both compete against natural gas, and given coal's relative abundance, its share is unlikely to decline any time soon.

UtiliPoint's IssueAlert Archive also has good recent articles on coal bed methane, coal gasification, and the place of renewables in the utility energy mix.