It is needless to mention that coal will definitely occupy a dominant and important position among natural resources in the future. However, the load subjected on environment by coal is far greater than other fossil fuels. Therefore, it is necessary to work out measures to reduce the load before using the coal by establishing a clean coal technology based on knowledge gathered from as many experts as possible. The present status and general outline of the basic technology for researching the properties, etc. of each coal type, the technologies expected to become viable within the near future, and those desired to be made viable in the future, are introduced in this report. The sections of this report without the notation of fiscal years are interpreted as a cross section of the 1998 fiscal year.