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Not so! See here:

The coal industry is still a very important business in this country.

The then National Coal Board - which became British Coal - was set up on January 1 1947 to manage a vast coal mining industry on the nation's behalf. In December 1994 UK COAL (formally RJB Mining PLC) successfully acquired the major bulk of the English coalfields upon the privatisation of British Coal, becoming the Europe's largest independently owned mining company.

You can look ahead to coal tomorrow. We in Britain have enough coal reserves to satisfy our needs for generations at present rates of mining - long after oil and gas supplies have run down. Fortunately almost anything that can be processed from oil can be made from coal and when natural gas from the North Sea runs out, coal can again become the main source of gas supply.

The industry is well advanced in developing new technology in mining and new processes for coal use, with care for the environment very much in mind.

Despite the growth in use of other fuels, which has resulted in a reduction in the industry's size in recent years, it remains a very substantial business.

Coal supplies about one third of the heat and energy we use. Then there are chemicals, plastics, disinfectants, medicines, road surfaces, paints, fertilisers and many other things made with or from coal by-products.
© UK Coal 2007

Source: UK COAL : Britain's largest coal mining company - Coal Today and for Tomorrow