Does Coal Have a Future?

The History of Coal as a Fuel and its Prospects in the 21st Century Of all the types of hydrocarbons, coal has been in use the longest. China is known to have extracted coal as early as the 4 th century B.C. Unlike oil, coal has historically been used in everyday ... ... Coal-Free Portfolio The future of coal in Europe is unclear. As gas grows cheaper due to the gradual increase in the number of LNG suppliers and improvements to the regasification infrastructure, the demand for coal in the region is expected to decline ...