(Posted by John.)
Richard Heinberg, one of the more prominent voices in the Peak Oil camp, has written a pair of newsletters bringing to light some reports which, if they're followed up on and confirmed, are alarming to say the least. To summarize grossly, the estimates of useable coal in the ground all seem to be grossly inflated and if more realistic appraisals are taken, the world's production of useful, high quality coal may peak sometime after 2020.
I'm usually one of the first to cheer bad news for coal, but color me skeptical. In any case, we've got plenty of good reasons to stop using coal without worrying about it running out making the list. Of course, if you don't believe in global warming, love mountaintop removal mining, and don't worry about any number of serious respiratory ailments, then maybe the price mechanism will be the thing that reaches you.
