How Much Coal is There Left?

Claims that the U.S. had reserves sufficient to last as long as 250 years came from greatly inflated estimates of how much coal could be mined, Haacke added. They were based on data put out by the U.S. Energy Department last updated comprehensively in the 1990s.
USGS study leader James Luppens said the Energy Department estimates were in “desperate need of revision.” But there are no immediate plans to do so or to incorporate the new findings, said Lance Harris, a supervisor with the Energy Department’s coal team.

                                                                                     An AP story in the Power Source Post-Gazette.

 
     Coal has been a big business n Alabama, though less so in recent years. The state's largest utility is converting at least one coal fired plant to natural gas. The Greene County Plant (left).

     Several Southern Company coal fired plants in Georgia are also being converted.