What is the future of the Illinois coal industry?
The high-sulfur content of Illinois coal requires expensive technology to burn it cleanly enough to meet environmental regulations. Competition from low-cost, low-sulfur western coal has resulted in the closing of a number of Illinois coal mines and in the loss of mining jobs. However, new technologies now being studied will in the future provide utilities with more efficient and environmentally safer methods of using Illinois coal. Because the state has large reserves of recoverable coal that can be mined at relatively low cost, these new technologies may allow utilities to continue to use Illinois coal well into this century and beyond. Many areas in southeastern Illinois still have not been adequately prospected for coal, and future exploration there may lead to the discovery of additional coal reserves that can be mined economically.
