Feature Stories
Transformative Coal Power Technologies Take Shape
January 8, 2020
At its annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas, last November, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) hosted a debate that featured the heads of U.S. trade organizations representing coal, gas, nuclear, energy management, renewables, and energy storage. Michelle
The Upper Midwest’s Coal Industry Remains Resilient
January 7, 2020
Leon Weisenburger plans to retire a coal miner. He’s bounced around the country, working in coal in the 1990s before taking a high-ranking city job in Garrison, N.D., and following his wife, a nurse practitioner, to California. Now he works
Wyoming Lawmakers Diving Head-first Into Advancements in Carbon Capture
January 7, 2020
A fresh blanket of snow coated the field surrounding the Dry Fork Station power plant. Set underneath a flawless blue sky in the heart of Wyoming’s coal country, the untouched landscape looked like a blank canvas awaiting its first brush
New Virtual Reality Training Puts Coal Mine Trainees in Driver’s Seat
January 6, 2020
From the cab of the haul truck, you can see for miles across the dark, jagged edges of the coal mine. A dragline sits idle while a man in a blue hard hat leans an elbow on the hood of
Ramaco’s Federal Grants to Focus on Alternative Uses for Coal
January 6, 2020
Wyoming’s current economic story is centered around the fact that the coal industry is in an inevitable downward spiral. But one Sheridan company is working to change that narrative by converting one of the state’s most abundant resources into other
U.S. Leads New Wave of Carbon Capture and Storage Deployment
January 6, 2020
As we ring in the new decade, it has become ever more apparent that the next ten years will be crucial to leaping on decarbonization efforts. Time is not on our side. We cannot favor one technology over another. An
Drones Give Mining Industry a Third Eye in the Sky
December 30, 2019
Mining companies are turning to drones to monitor difficult to reach areas, allowing for decreased interaction with hazardous activity. Mine sites are often located in remote areas with machinery and equipment that is controlled by operators that can be thousands
Six Months After Massive Coal Industry Layoff, Christmas Giveaway Brings Welcome Relief
December 17, 2019
The echoes of the most tumultuous bankruptcy to hit Eastern Kentucky’s coal industry in recent memory came to Harlan County on Saturday afternoon in the form of Christmas carols. Children, many of them the sons and daughters of coal miners
Smuggler Mine in Colorado Offers Unique Opportunity for Mine Rescue Training Course
December 12, 2019
A rescuer stood on the precipice of a mine shaft. Peering into the darkness below, his safety tether was unhooked from a rusty eyelet drilled into the rock wall. Stoicism did little to mask the nervousness in his eyes as
J. Winston Porter: New Rules for Mining Vital to U.S. Interests
December 3, 2019
A large majority of important minerals used in America are imported from other countries, but the United States needs to produce more minerals in our country. In addition, now some want to obtain minerals via recycling in America. Although the
