Title and presumption:
"Coal’s future lies in Asia"
Coal has "a future" here in The West as well, but for now it's been put on hold.
It will take 50-75 years for the "green madness" to work its way through the Western nations. We'll be long gone, but that day in time will arrive.
When the natural gas plays out...
When the nuclear plants have all closed (few, if any will be built in The West during the next 50 years or longer)...
When it finally becomes apparent that neither "wind" nor "solar" can in any way satisfy the needs of large populations or industrial societies...
When the lies of "a green future" simply can no longer be kept puffed up like an overblown soufflé and finally collapse...
... then all the coal in the ground -- centuries worth -- will still be there, waiting.
It will then be used.
And with that, I'm going to introduce to you a new law of economics, which I will call "Fishrrman's law of energy resources":
Any and all energy resources will eventually be used when needed.
The only variable is how badly the need to extract and use them becomes.