Application of a Backfilling Method in Coal Mining to Realise an Ecologically Sensitive “Black Gold” Industry

China, as the largest coal-producing and -consuming country in the world, is highly dependent on its coal industry, or “Black Gold” industry, for the national energy and economy. The consequent environmental crises, however, have persisted for decades, and the most serious effect is surface subsidence induced by underground mining. Underground coal excavation in China has ignored this problem for thousands of years, even though it causes conspicuous damage to the surface ecosystem and construction projects due to the subsidence of overlying strata. This study recommends paste backfilling to replace the space originally occupied by coal resources to avoid such subsidence and proposes backfilling schemes for two mainstream mining methods used in China’s collieries, namely, continuous mining and fully mechanised coal mining. These methodologies have been successfully implemented in some collieries, and the gob area can be backfilled immediately to prevent surface subsidence. To promote an ecological OPEN ACCESS Energies 2015, 8 3629 ideology when conflict exists between economic profits and environmental protection, experience from developed countries should be considered, support and appropriate legislation from the government are essential, and the perspective of colliery managers should be taken into account, and further in-depth study on strata subsidence and backfilling material must be pursued.