The debate over the use of coal in Britain is heating up. Reuters reports a British company, Clean Coal UK, is planning to mine an estimated billion tonnes of coal off the Welsh coast using underground coal gasification. The technique converts coal into a synthetic gas that can be used for power and other uses.
See http://www.mining.com/2012/01/18/company-plans-to-mine-a-billion-tonnes-of-coal-off-wales-without-miners/.