Changing and Increasing Demand For Coal      In recent years, certain events have thrust the coal industry back into the forefront as the energy source of the 1980s and 1990s, and coal seems to be reclaiming its former position as king.      In May 1980, a study by representatives of 16 coal producing and using nations warned that, unless world coal production is tripled by the year 2000, a feat requiring world capital expenditures of a staggering 1 trillion dollars, "the outlook is bleak." In June 1980, the seven leaders of the western industrialized nations met in Venice (including Canada) and called for a doubling of coal production and its use by early 1990.      One of the prime reasons for this resurgence of coal dates back to the rise in OPEC oil prices in 1973, which launched a world-wide search for energy sources to replace petroleum on a massive scale. To many of coal's boosters, the commitments and massive expenditures signal the end of petroleum's dominance of the global energy picture.      Canadian coal has had high and low peaks ever since it was first mined by soldiers from the Fortress of Louisbourg in 1720. By the end of the 1940s, 50 percent of Canada's energy was supplied by coal. Today, coal only provides 9 percent of the country's energy needs - largely electrical generation. But the creation of the new industry in high-grade metallurgical coal when a reborn Japanese steel industry surfaced in the mid-1960s gave an added boost to Canada's coal industry.      Canada's reserves are divided approximately equally between steel making metallurgical coal and electrical generating thermal coal. With approximately 4.2 billion tons available, Canada has only 6 percent of the world's supply. But the coal is high grade and low in polluting sulphur. As a result, it is much in demand for fuelling the blast furnaces of Japan and Korea as those countries move to convert oil-fired steel mills to coal.      But, serious problems remain for coal to return as the prime producer of energy. Without guidelines on pollution standards, energy objectives, and help with the massive infrastructure costs from government, the coal industry remains largely frozen.      Both provincial and federal governments are awaiting answers to many "ifs," such as environmental risk of coal use and whether the cost of solving these side effects will still leave it economical as a fuel source. Other variables include the political fate of nuclear power and whether oil consumers are committed to the costly process of converting to coal power.      Pollution and environmental disruption on the production end of coal mining have largely been eliminated with land reclamation in strip-mining areas and futuristic techniques such as hydraulic mining and better ventilation to help solve the danger of silicosis and "black lung" in underground mining. Pollution on the user's end is still contentious, however, especially in the gathering storm over acid rain.

THE TOP FIVE COAL PRODUCING NATIONS 1.) U.S.A. 167 billion available tons 2,570 billion tons, geological reserve. 2.) former U.S.S.R. 110 billion available tons 4,860 billion tons, geological reserve. 3.) China 99 billion available tons 1,438 billion tons, geological reserve. 4.) Australia 33 billion available tons 600 billion tons, geological reserve. 5.) Canada 4.2 billion available tons 323 billion tons, geological reserve.

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