Page 327 - Advances In Productive, Safe, and Responsible Coal Mining

The role of research in the 15

coal-mining industry: Moving
forward using lessons from

the past

Joseph C. Hirschi* ,†
†
*Smart Solutions, Komatsu Mining Corporation, Mt. Vernon, IL, United States, Mining and
Mineral Resources Engineering, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, United States

15.1 Introduction and background

Coal mining has a fascinating history that dates back several millennia. For most of
this time, coal was used as a domestic fuel to provide heat, but it became the world’s
primary energy source during the industrial revolution that began in Great Britain in
the 1700s and swept from continent to continent over the course of the next two cen-
turies. Today, coal is used mostly by industry with electricity generation being the
primary market.
This history includes amazing advances in mining methods and startling fatality
statistics. As with the industrial revolution that it fueled, coal-mining methods were
transformed from an extremely labor-intensive pick-and-shovel manual operation to
one that employs highly mechanized machines and relatively few people. This trans-
formation has resulted in huge productivity gains for the industry. Even with these
technological advances, mining has always been considered a hazardous occupation
primarily due to the release of methane gas, whose explosive nature is compounded by
the presence of coal dust; and to dangers associated with falling ground; two concerns
which are ever-present in underground mines. To address these issues, organizations
such as the United States (US) Bureau of Mines, formed in 1910, have been con-
ducting ongoing health and safety research that has resulted in huge reductions in
the number of coal miner fatalities and the size and scope of mine disasters.
As one who came into the coal industry during the robust growth years of the late
1970s, the author has witnessed multiple shifts between boom and bust cycles in the
demand for coal and the need for skilled labor. The 1970s was a period of retrench-
ment. In the United States, this period brought the Environmental Protection Agency,
the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the Office of Surface Mining Reclama-
tion and Enforcement, and the Department of Energy, all of which have had major
impacts on the coal industry. On the world stage, oil embargos brought about a sharp
increase in energy prices opening up markets especially for Australian coal. The 1980s
was a period of great transformation, especially in the US coal industry where the

Advances in Productive, Safe, and Responsible Coal Mining. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-101288-8.00014-6
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