Minerals are essential to energy systems, construction, manufacturing, and advanced technologies. Yet production is highly concentrated among countries with large resource endowments and major fossil fuel industries.

Coal and natural gas plants can generate electricity when needed, while solar and wind production varies with weather conditions.

Iowa has started four projects totaling nearly $4.9 million to restore approximately 150 acres of abandoned coal mine land in Mahaska and Marion counties.

For years, residents across Appalachia have raised concerns about the air they breathe near coal mines, haul roads, landfills, industrial facilities and other potential sources of pollution.

A fire beneath a former coal mine in Deerfield Township, Ohio, covers less than a quarter-acre, and investigations have found no evidence of substantial gas impacts beyond the property, according to the Portage County Emergency Management Agency.

India's government plans to turn coal into industrial chemicals, expand critical mineral processing and encourage Indian companies to acquire overseas mineral assets as it seeks to strengthen domestic supply chains.