Coal was once the staple energy source for the world as nations industrialized. Recently, coal usage has reached new lows around the world, sending this once titanic source of energy into its death throes after a long decline.

Hoping to become more sustainable and spurred on by the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference, many nations around the world are seeking cleaner alternatives to coal. China is no exception and has taken drastic actions in this direction.

Having long suffered from the ill effects of air pollution, China has recently stopped the construction of hundreds of coal plants in an attempt to reduce its carbon emissions. These 250 plants being closed would have contributed as much as 170 gigawatts to China’s power grid, which is the entire electrical production capacity of Germany. Last year, China also announced an end to creating new coal mines and has closed thousands of small mines.

Protests by the middle class and economic impracticality were the major reasons for these changes. Many of the coal plants required water in parched regions of China, and compared to a sudden proliferation of cleaner energy alternatives such as hydroelectric power, China is realizing coal power’s redundancy.

Despite these advances, coal still has a major role in China. It accounts for the vast majority of electricity generation, and will likely continue to do so for years. Ironically, with many plants continuing their production and the construction of new plants halted, these older and dirtier plants continuing to run may actually contribute more to air pollution than if China had opened up cleaner plants before pursuing its reduction in coal use.

Though a significant example, China is not the only nation reducing its coal usage. In an article by  Foreign Policy, Maura Cowley, Director of the International Climate and Clean Energy Campaign for the Sierra Club, stated, “In the United States, we’ve hit the point where coal is in a structural decline, and I think globally we are getting there as well.”

Oregon has become the forerunner state for reducing coal use in the U.S. According to an article by EcoWatch, the Oregon Legislature passed the Clean Energy and Coal Transition Act early last March, which would make 50 percent of the state’s energy hail from clean sources by 2040. That, combined with Oregon’s existing hydroelectric systems, would make the state’s power grid about 80 percent clean by that date. This legislation also proposes to accelerate the establishment of electric car charging stations across the state, which will further reduce carbon emissions.

Outside of Oregon, the declining use of coal in the U.S. is being caused by the rising use of natural gas. This cheaper alternative to coal has been steadily replacing coal as a major producer of electricity. Because of this trend, American coal companies, like many others, are foundering.

The United Kingdom is also following this trend. According to an article by The Guardian, the U.K.’s carbon emissions fell by four percent in the last year. This is likely because coal consumption fell by 22 percent, and coal production by 27,  in the U.K. last year, lowering coal burning levels to those seen one hundred fifty years ago. Additionally, their renewable energy generation rose by 29 percent, allowing clean energy to claim a full quarter of the U.K.’s energy production.

The decline of coal could be a good thing, especially in an environmental sense, but it carries consequences of its own. Many coal companies are going out of business, and coal miners are the ones contending with their employers’ failures. Coal miners have been laid off in large numbers and have had their pensions revoked by bankruptcy judges so that companies can restructure their finances.

Because of these consequences, nations should be careful with their elimination of coal. On the other hand, in what ways could a future without coal help the world?