I happen to know a little something about coal, in as much as I lived across from a building-sized pile of the stuff for three years (1996-99) in Shenyang, China. The coal dust was largely invisible but the first wash cycle of any load of laundry invariably became an inky-black mess. At that time, the global debate on the subject focused on the unintended results of China's agreement to "wash" much of its coal. Coal washing removes most of the surface impurities from coal bricks so that fewer pollutants are discharged through burning. While China's move was seen as an environmental win, its "clean" coal quickly found eager buyers in countries that banned the use of untreated coal and coal producers outside of China bemoaned the sudden glut of cheap coal on the international market.
Their concerns were short-lived, as China's booming economic growth has required more and more energy from all sources, foreign and domestic. China is now a net-importer of coal and the inescapable environmental questions associated with coal now fall back on its chief exporters: the United States, Canada, and Australia.
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