The path of intelligent and green development in the transformation of the coal industry

Driven by the dual forces of global energy transformation and digitization, China’s coal industry is undergoing profound changes. This article systematically analyzes the challenges faced by the coal industry, including pressure from energy structure transformation, the collaborative demand for greenification and digitization, the trend of production layout shifting to the west, and the technical and economic challenges in intelligent construction. On the basis, it outlines the key technological innovation paths for safe, efficient, intelligent and green development of coal, covering areas such as intelligent digital infrastructure, transparent geology, intelligent mining and tunneling, safety monitoring, green sorting, robot clusters and standard systems. Furthermore, it explores the connotation and model of the coordinated development of “coal-electricity-chemical-new energy”, including practices such as coal-electricity joint ventures, integrated coal chemical industry, new energy coupling, integrated development of wind-solar-thermal-storage, and the source-grid-hydrogen-ammonia-alcohol industry chain. The research indicates that through digital empowerment and multi-energy complementarity, the coal industry is transitioning from traditional fuel to emphasizing both raw materials and materials, and its intelligent and green coordinated development is the essential path to enhance industrial competitiveness, ensure energy security, and achieve the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality.