In 1800, Britain mined and used 10 million metric tons of coal; by 1853, that had risen to 71 million tons, peaking at 292 million tons in 1913. By 1920, more than one in twenty British workers was in coal, and the country was still mining and using 232 million tons in 1936, when Orwell went to Wigan. In 2015, the last deep coal mine closed; by 2017, coal production had dropped to 3 million tons; and in 2019, the country went a fortnight without using coal to generate power for the first time since 1882.
In 1800, Britain mined and used 10 million metric tons of coal; by 1853, that had risen to 71 million tons, peaking at 292 million tons in 1913. By 1920, more than one in twenty British workers was in coal, and the country was still mining and using 232 million tons in 1936, when Orwell went to Wigan. In 2015, the last deep coal mine closed; by 2017, coal production had dropped to 3 million tons; and in 2019, the country went a fortnight without using coal to generate power for the first time since 1882.
