World steam coal demand will be driven, for the next decade, by coal-capable power station capacity. Barring very large price changes, coal prices will be a less important determinant of demand, except in the smaller industrial market. The SPRU power plant data base, which also contains data on plant under construction, is used to establish likely year 2000 levels of coal demand inside and outside the OECD, and of traded coal demand. It is concluded that demand growth will be real but modest; price competition from international coal will put pressure on the European coal industries, including the UK's.

Fusion research policy has recently come under scrutiny, prompted by rising research costs and increasing doubt about the value of such long-term work. This paper reviews the basic principles of fusion, the research and development still required, the costs of research to date, justifications for it, and future policy options; and examines in broad terms some of the ways in which fusion can be and has been evaluated. Throughout, the emphasis is on the need to compare fusion on equal terms with those technological options with which it may compete, and in the context of different energy futures.