Man-Made Risks in Coal Mining, Transportation, Storage and Consumption and Prospects for Their Minimization

Coal is one of the main sources of energy worldwide, both at present and in the foreseeable future. World proven oil reserves are sufficient for 53 years, natural gas—for 56 years at the current level of production and consumption, while for coal it is more than 130 years; alternative sources are not yet able to compete with hydrocarbon energy resources. At the same time, the production, transportation, storage and use of coal is associated with many risks—fire, environmental and other risks. Assessment of these risks, as well as the development of ways to minimize them has long been the object of research both in Russia and around the world. The article presents a brief overview of research that has been carried out by Irkutsk National Research Technical University for fifteen years at coal mining sites in the Siberian region and promising areas of joint Russian-Chinese research.