Research hotspots and development trends of green coal mining: Exploring the path to sustainable development of coal mines

Coal mining and utilization should not only ensure safety and efficiency, but also form the theory and technology of green coal as soon as possible to guide the sustainable development of coal mines. In order to grasp the overall research progress of the theme of green coal mining (GCM), with coal mining as the main line and ecological environment issues as the link, 730 articles in the Web of Science database from 2004 to 2023 were visually analyzed by VOSviewer. Draw a knowledge map of research areas, countries, affiliations, authors and hot keywords, and discuss the research hotspots and trends of the GCM. The results show that GCM has gone through three periods: initial period, slow period and rapid period. China and the China University of Mining and Technology have become the core research country and the core affiliate of the GCM, respectively. The clustering analysis of research keywords can be divided into 8 main clusters. During the past 20 years, keywords such as backfilling, fly ash, green mine construction, paste material, energy transition, green economy, coal gasification and biotechnology have been the representative research hotspots in each cluster. With the progress of the times, the related policies, academic ideas and research hotspots of the GCM theme have the evolutionary characteristics of branching expansion, from shallow to deep, subject integration, decline and prosperity. On this basis, 5 key research directions in the future under the GCM theme are put forward, namely, intelligent green coal mining technology, green coordinated mining technology of coal and associated resources, green resource transformation and comprehensive utilization of abandoned mines, life cycle ecological restoration technology and energy development concept and research and development of new green coal-based materials. This study provides an effective path for the sustainable development of coal mines in the future.