Abstract
IT is generally admitted that the amount of coal existing below Great Britain at such depths that it can be worked is limited, that large quantities of coal are annually used, and that even the partial exhaustion of the fields, accompanied, as it must be, by a rise in price, would seriously affect almost all our manufactures, and greatly endanger our commercial supremacy. But if we attempt to go further, and say how long our supply of coal will last, we meet with very different estimates. Nearly a hundred years ago the question was discussed by Mr. John Williams, and though the insufficiency of the data did not allow him to give a definite answer, he at least showed the vital importance of the subject.
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LUPTON, S. The Coal Question . Nature 31, 242–245 (1885). https://doi.org/10.1038/031242a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/031242a0