[patall]

From my point of view, this is only about the general electricity generation. I mean, a lot of people are still using lignite to warm their house in the winter and knowing the lifetime of personal homes in Europe, we cannot really expect that to end in the next 50 years (though not for newly build ones though).

[lispm]

Less than 1% of German homes are using coal for heating.

https://www.deutsche-handwerks-zeitung.de/so-heizt-deutschla...

[patall]

For the primary source of general heating yes. As a secondary to heat the living room oven, I highly doubt that, too many relatives that I just bought lignite with last autumn. Could be more prominent in eastern Germany though.

[lispm]

There isn't much coal used - you will have a hard time finding a coal supply in many cities. Some regions in eastern Germany and in the Rhine/Ruhr region...

Since coal mines are being closed, the miners will not get any more coal (as part of their salary) and thus they are looking for alternatives:

https://www.gelsenwasser.de/unternehmen/presse/pressearchiv/...

[Tomte]

I've never seen a coal oven in a home. All those "Kachelöfen" and "Kamine" are being fed wood, in several forms.

[pgeorgi]

Subsidies for modernizing homes exist for a long time in Germany: Tax credits, super cheap loans (0.75% p.a.), financial aid (not having to pay back up to 30kEUR)...

Among the supported measures is: modernizing heating systems.