The aim of this thesis is to describe and analyze the impacts of the decline of coal mining on an example of two countries, namely the Czech Republic and Germany, and then to compare selected impacts and tools that have been used against the negative consequences. The work is divided into three parts, the first chapter describes the basic characteristics of coal, its use and exploitation. Second chapter deals with the current development of coal mining in the world along with its geographical presence. The final chapter analyzes and compares the Industrial Region of Ostrava and the Ruhr Valley and their current socio-economic challenges.

This diploma thesis titled "Financial analysis of the company New World Resources Plc" is structured into three main parts. The first chapter lays down the theoretical framework of the financial analysis including the definitions of the fundamental terms, introduces the main groups of users and presents mostly applied tools. The second part aims to present relevant information about the NWR group, i.e. among others the major shareholders and controlled subsidiaries. Moreover, the substantial part of the chapter dedicates to the market development and recent news and problems related to the company. The key third part, in the help of the tools of the financial analysis, intends to interpret the causes and reasons of the development of the corporate finance of the company. The objective of the final chapter is to determine the extent of the financial health of the enterprise as well as potential risks of its future outlook.

Erfahrungsbericht zum Steinkohlenbergbau in Mosambik: Die Republik Mosambik ist ein schwach entwickeltes Agrarland mit einer bescheidenen Verarbeitungsindustrie, vorwiegend in den Hafenstädten, und einer Infrastruktur, die viele Wünsche offenlässt. Reich ist das Land an unterschiedlichen Rohstoffen. Neben Vorkommen an NE-Metallen, Tantal, Halbedelsteinen und Erdöl sind die umfangreichen Steinkohlenlagerstätten vor allem in der Provinz Tete am Sambesi zu nennen, die jedoch bis zum Ende des 20. Jahrhunderts nur in sehr bescheidenem Umfang erschlossen waren.

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This project critically evaluates liberal development plans created for Central Appalachia by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) through a historical materialist lens. It demonstrates that these plans and their explicitly liberal origins are not sufficient for the working classes in the region to achieve a sustainable 'post-coal' future. Central Appalachia is one of the most impoverished regions in the United States and its political economy was shaped largely by coal mining that was overseen by absentee proprietors. This mono-economic structure has bred unique political conditions in the region. The economics of coal have historically influenced most political decisions. As the coal industry has declined, the region has been subjected to multitudes of economic development plans from the ARC. However, Central Appalachia still exists as an impoverished peripheral zone within the United States' political economy. This thesis is motivated by the decline of coal and the economic and ecological hardships this has created for the region's working-class, and the urgent need to begin envisioning a post-coal future for the region which avoids the insufficiency of liberal economic development. The thesis is not purely an attack on the ARC as an organization, but is rather a critique of the methods they use to enact economic development and shows how these methods are not only inadequate for the Appalachian working class, but all working classes subjected to the liberal economic development model. / Master of Arts / This paper evaluates the efficacy of the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) economic development plans. The ARC is the federal agency tasked with reducing poverty in the Appalachian region and was created in 1965. They have enacted over 28,000 development plans and spent $4.5 billion since 1965, but Appalachia is still relatively impoverished in comparison to the rest of the United States. This impoverishment is largely due to the prevalence of the coal industry in the region and the fact that most political and economic decisions were influenced by the coal industry. However, the industry has been declining for several decades now, and this has created economic hardship for many in the region, as there are very few industries that have taken its place, leading to widespread unemployment. This paper focuses specifically on the Central Appalachian region of Southeastern Kentucky, Southwest Virginia, Northeastern Tennessee, and West Virginia. These states had the highest amount of people employed in the coal industry during its heyday, so they have borne the brunt of its decline. I offer a critique of the ARC's model of development and suggest solutions for mitigating the difficult situation in Central Appalachia and explore how the region can achieve a 'post-coal' future that does not rely on the current mechanisms of the ARC's model of development. This critique is informed by historical perspectives that highlight how Central Appalachia was structured as a peripheral zone in the larger US economy that served only to enrich the metropolitan areas of the US and world at great cost to the people of Central Appalachia and their natural environment. I perform my analysis through a historical overview of the economic structure of Central Appalachia as well as a content analysis of six ARC documents that outline their frameworks and methodologies for achieving economic development. While the paper is a critique of the ARC, the emphasis is more so on the particular method that the ARC uses to achieve economic development in the region.

It is widely recognized that coal is and will continue to be a crucial element in a modern, balanced energy portfolio, providing a bridge to the future as an important low-cost and secure energy solution to sustainability challenges. The designer of coal mining operations needs to simultaneously consider legal, environmental, and sustainability goals, along with traditional mining engineering parameters, as integral parts of the design process. However, traditional coal mining planning seldom considers key “sustainability factors” such as societal impacts; dislocation of towns and residences; physical and economic impact on neighboring communities and individuals; infrastructure concerns; post-mining land use habitat disruption and reconstruction; and long-term community benefit. This work demonstrates the advantage of using a systems engineering approach based on the premise that systems can only be optimized if all factors are considered at one time. Utilizing systems engineering and optimization approaches allows for the incorporation of regulatory and sustainability factors into coal mine design. Graphical approaches, based on the use of GIS tools, are shown as examples of the development of models for the positive and negative impacts of coal mining operations. However, this work also revealed that there are significant challenges inherent in optimizing the design of large-scale surface coal mining operations in Appalachia. Regulatory and permitting programs in the United States, which give conflicting and ill-defined responsibilities to a variety of federal and state agencies, often focus on single parameters, rather than the full suite of desirable outcomes for sustainability, and serve as barriers to innovation. Sustainable development requires a delicate balance between competing economic, environmental and social interests. In the context of coal mining in the U.S., the current regulatory frameworks and policy-guidance vehicles impede this balance. To address this problem, and thus effectively and efficiently provide energy resources while protecting the communities and environments, the U.S. will likely need to fundamentally restructure regulatory programs. Ideally, revisions should be based upon the key concepts of public ecology and allow for a systems engineering approach to coal mine design. / Ph. D.

Recently, there has been a growth of risk-based governance in coal mining safety regulation in many European and commonwealth countries. However, it is puzzling that the progress is much slower in the U.S. This dissertation seeks to explore this puzzle by examining the question what are the barriers keeping the American coal mining industry and the U.S. government from moving toward risk-based governance? Based on the theoretical framework introduced by Braithwaite and Drahos (2000), particularly the theory of modeling, this research found three major barriers that keep the American coal mining industry from fully embracing the model of risk management. First, the existence of a large number of small operators prevents this model from being diffused in the industry. Second, increasingly prescriptive regulations have consumed the resources that companies could use to develop risk management systems and have created a mentality of compliance that is not compatible with the idea of risk management. Third, a group of model mongers, missionaries, and mercenaries have advocated a competing model — behavior-based safety — that is more attractive to the industry. This dissertation also found that the lack of three factors helps explain the failure of the U.S. government's move toward risk-based governance: (1) strong imitative pressure from general occupational heath and safety (OHS) regulation; (2) strong model mongers, missionaries, and mercenaries; and (3) webs of dialogue. / Ph. D.

Mountaintop removal is an aggressive form of strip mining practiced almost exclusively in Central Appalachia, and since 1977 has been regulated by state and federal laws. Beginning in the late 1990s, considerable controversy erupted in coal mining states like West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee over the adverse social and environmental impacts of the practice. The analysis of mountaintop removal presented here is restricted to its effects in West Virginia during roughly the last decade. Relying on theories of democratic practice developed by pragmatic philosophers like John Dewey and G.H. Mead, this work studies the standard practices of state and federal regulatory agencies and elected officials in an effort to determine what, if any, social goods they work to defend. Pragmatic theories of democracy suggest that a government can be considered representative only when it acts on behalf of the public good. Chapter 1 of this thesis introduces the reader to the practice of mountaintop removal mining in West Virginia. Chapter 2 lays the theoretical groundwork for determining an individual's or institution's values through an analysis of its habitual actions. In chapter 3, I examine the consequences of mountaintop removal for the state of West Virginia, its citizens, and the coal interests that operate within its borders. Chapter 4 is dedicated to an analysis of regulatory responses to the conflicting interests of the various groups affected by the practice. Finally, in Chapter 5, some conclusions are drawn about the extent to which the regulation of mountaintop removal in West Virginia can be considered democratic. / Master of Arts