It is our intent to keep you and your colleagues abreast of pertinent developments within the coal industry on a frequent basis. 

Accordingly, Coal Forum Headlines is a compilation of daily articles and stories about coal from around the region and the world. Upon reviewing this news stream, if you have suggestions to improve it or make it more useful please let us know.  And lastly, please share this with your colleagues and if they have an interest simply have them visit here to receive future editions directly.

Reliability vs. Affordability: Regulators hear opposing visions for West Virginia’s energy future
The Journal
West Virginia regulators heard opposing views on proposed rules intended to support continued operation of coal-fired power plants. The debate centers on reliability, customer affordability and a proposed 69% capacity-factor requirement supported by the West Virginia Coal Association.

WVU mining engineering program highlighted in federal workforce expansion effort
WV News
West Virginia University’s mining engineering program is being highlighted as federal officials seek to expand the domestic mining workforce. The initiative focuses on education, recruitment and the technical expertise needed to support mining and energy projects.

American EcoFuels appoints chief processing officer for coal-to-liquids program
Yahoo Finance
American EcoFuels has appointed Dr. Sasa Dzaferovic as chief processing officer. He will focus on process development for the company’s coal-to-liquids program as it advances fuel production, testing and qualification work.

Mining operators look beyond autonomy toward integrated surface operations
Global Mining Review
A new industry analysis examines how autonomous systems are becoming embedded in large-scale surface mining. It considers the next step beyond individual autonomous machines: integrating fleet data, operating systems and human oversight across the mine.

Shanxi moves to reverse four-month coal-output decline while retaining safety controls
BigMint
China’s Shanxi province has directed producers to accelerate mine restarts and rebuild supply after four consecutive months of declining coal output. Officials stressed that the recovery effort must continue to comply with mine-safety requirements.