Coal hasn't been economical for at least two years, in the sense that the capital cost of new PV is less than the operating cost of existing coal.
The problem is that developing countries like China and India are so desperately short of electricity (growth in demand is so high) that any new builds just add to existing production rather than replacing it. - Governments will prop up uneconomic generators to maintain total supply.
I don't know how to scale up PV and wind quickly enough to just replace coal in this situation.
Edit: the Chinese experiments with thorium molten salt and pebble-bed high temperature fission reactors are interesting here.
If they can easily swap out coal furnaces with nuclear reactors and retain the other 80% of the power stations, they'll get great benefits in air quality and and emissions while making use of of their investment in thermal generation.
Assuming the people are there justly for committing a crime and not being convicted just to provide free labor doesn't it make sense to have these people do something instead of sitting all day in a cage?
In my opinion, anything that creates a profit motive for imprisonment and recidivism is an incentive recipe for disaster. So even if justly incarcerated I would probably say no?
But regardless, I don't think assuming just incarceration in China is a great idea.
e.g. [0],
"Forced Labor
The PRC government has pressured large numbers of
Uyghurs, including former detainees, into accepting
employment in the formal workforce, particularly in the
textile, apparel, agricultural, consumer electronics, and
other labor-intensive industries, in Xinjiang and other
provinces. Uyghurs who refuse to accept such employment
may be threatened with detention. Some factories utilizing
Uyghur labor reportedly are tied to global supply chains.
Factory employment often involves heavy surveillance and
political indoctrination of Uyghurs."
[1] https://www.fastcompany.com/90583426/the-price-of-solar-elec...