Declining coal demand in the U.S. and rising demand for natural gas and renewables have hit coal production and the number of active coal mines in the United States has dropped by more than half since peak coal production in 2008, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in an analysis on Wednesday. U.S. coal production has declined by more than a third since peaking in 2008, while the number of active coal mines plunged to 671 mines in 2017 from 1,435 mines in 2008, the EIA has estimated. Lower coal demand since 2008 has resulted in closures of smaller and less efficient mines, with most mine closures in the Appalachian region. “The uptick in mine closures since 2008 has largely been driven by economics, and smaller, less profitable mines have been more susceptible to closures,” the EIA said. At the end of last year, the EIA estimated that U.S. […]