So, would a doubling in coal prices substantially increase recoverable coal reserves?
Yes. Now, “recoverable” is tricky: the normal distinction used by the USGS is “economically recoverable” – that includes economic assumptions, and Illinois coal (and much other coal in the world), at a slightly higher cost as discussed above, is currently uneconomic. But, that’s under Business As Usual – if we have a true energy scarcity, Illinois coal will very, very quickly become economic.
