ABSTRACT
Petroleum and electricity monopolized almost all of the attention the Colombian government could afford to provide for energy policies, leaving scant time for coal. Furthermore, petroleum and electricity replaced coal as the main fuel in many traditional uses. However, coal output did not decline and on the contrary continued to rise because of the appearance of a new type of consumer. The interplay between private investors and the national government over coal thus provides some final revealing glances into the shaping of energy policies in Colombia. The first section of this chapter offers a broad overview; of the many aspects of coal policy, three have been chosen for a more detailed presentation: the supply of coal to Bogota, which constituted one of the few times this fuel attained public prominence, and attempts to export from the province of Cali as well as from Cerrejón on the Atlantic coast.
