U.S. Energy Department Announces Measures to Revive U.S. Coal Industry

The U.S. Energy Department on April 9 announced a number of actions to unleash American coal production. The announcement follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order, “Reinvigorating America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry.” The actions are aimed to strengthen U.S. energy and industrial security, develop domestic critical mineral production, help modernize and enhance coal technologies, and accelerate commercialisation of mineral extraction technology.

As part of the executive order, President Trump has made it a national priority to bolster the domestic coal industry by removing federal regulatory barriers that impede coal production and encouraging coal use to meet growing energy demands. The order also calls for increasing U.S. coal exports and ensuring that federal policy does not discriminate against coal production or coal-fired power generation.

The announcement consists of five key actions to support critical mineral independence and coal innovation. The first initiative is to reinstate the National Coal Council as a federal advisory committee, which became redundant during the previous administration. The council provides expert advice on the upcoming outlook of coal markets and technologies. Secondly, to facilitate investment in coal fired electricity generation, the Loan Programs Offfice will provide $200 billion in financing for energy infrastructure including coal.

Next, to strengthen U.S. coal markets is labelling steelmaking coal as a critical mineral and material. The department is endorsing the label of coal utilized in steelmaking as a critical material and mineral in the forthcoming 2025 Critical Materials Assessment. The fourth action pertains to the implementation of mineral extraction technology from coal ash. The department has patented new technology to extract critical minerals from coal ash.

The fifth initiative is to support the commercialization of coal ash conversion technologies. This initiative will enhance the recovery of critical minerals from coal ash and creating a domestic supply chain for critical minerals, reducing the U.S. ‘s reliance on China for key products.

The reinvigoration of the U.S. coal industry is expected to support and encourage domestic energy supply, reduce electricity expenditures, stabilize the grid, create employment opportunities and support burgeoning industries.