EDITORIAL Robots will replace many miners
An editorial opinion from the Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette-Mail:
A day will come when the coal industry has no underground miners, the Gazette’s late publisher, W.E. “Ned” Chilton III, predicted. Instead, he said, robotic machines will chew out coal below the surface, guided by above-ground operators using video screens.
That forecast is arriving swiftly. A worldwide business assistance firm, BDO Global (Binder Dijker Otte), reports for all mining industries:
“By 2020, robots will replace more than 50 percent of miners, and mining accidents will be cut by 75 percent. Half of the miners will themselves be retrained to run the technology controlling the robots …”
BDO also predicts: “By 2020, renewables will account for one-quarter of the world’s electricity generation as dependence on coal wanes.”
What a future: Coal will fade, and robots will perform much of the production that remains.
BDO likewise forecasts a continuing boom in natural gas, with America producing 30 percent of the world’s LNG (liquefied natural gas) by 2020. The possibility of a gas pipeline to Central America will be considered.
Its predictions, if accurate, bear strong implications for West Virginia.