As for coal use, even though it's a controversial thing to say, Nuclear power has got to be a well considered option for replacing coal stations, IMHO.
I think it's only controversial amongst certain "groups". In fact Nuclear Power would already have weened the free world off of foreign oil had these "groups" not set the industry back, what, a couple of decades. There is a lot of misinformation about the Nuclear industry imo, praying on people's fears. The initial cost and time to build a Nuclear plant is quite great, but fuelling them is very cheap and efficient beyond the initial cost. The waste materials must obviously, be dealt with in a responsible manner. China seems to be forward thinking and is currently building some 20 or so plants with more to come where other nations twiddle their thumbs and spend millions, if not billions, on feasablity studies wasting time and money.
There are a number of possibilities out there, but when the majority of people learn how much extra they will end up paying, above what they are accustomed to, more than likely they will balk and most of the alternatives.
