Energy is one of the indispensable factors regarding the assurance of social prosperity and economic development of a country. The developing countries struggle to obtain energy sources reliable in the long term to complete their economic development, and the developed countries struggle to get them to keep their present prosperity levels. Coal seems to continue its indispensable position among the other energy sources for many years because of its production in more than 50 countries, the least effect it has from the price fluctuation and its usage lifespan of more than 200 years. The countries that are aware of it have investments in mining fields in the countries rich in coal reserves, and they continue investing considerable amount of money. In the projections of Turkey in 2020, the primary energy consumption is estimated to be 298 Mtoe, the production is estimated to be 70Mtoe, the ratio of production to consumption will reduce to the level of 23.5%, and this situation will cause serious risks for sustainable development. In other words, Turkey will have to import 76.5% of the energy that it consumes in the 2020s. However, Turkey can reduce the rate of the external dependency to the level of 50% by using the hard coal reserve of 1.3 billion tons, the lignite reserve of 8.058 billion tons and renewable source of great potential. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.