They've been in a steady linear downtrend of coal production for more than a century. Then stopped producing the stuff roughly on schedule for a prediction made in 1970 or 1980.

Occam's razor here is they stopped producing coal because they ran out of coal, rather than because of any political will.

> There is a large amount of coal still available for mining in the uk - but lack of demand and low prices coupled with high extraction costs have destroyed the industry.

That is what running out of coal looks like. Based on the 100 year trendline, Occam's razor is they can't sustain their lifestyle using coal. It wouldn't surprise me if they struggled even with new forms, their energy use figures [0] are eye watering.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_the_United_Kingdom#O...