Norway is determined to move away from coal and other fossil fuels entirely, but the town of Longyearbyen in the Arctic outpost of Svalbard is literally built around coal and has identified strongly as a coal town for more than 100 years. This year, the last coal mine in Longyearbyen shut down — not because they ran out of coal, but because the country is deeply committed to trying something else, even if they haven't totally figured out what that something else is yet.

Closing the Gap is hosted by Gwen Holdmann. Tony Williams is our producer and engineer. Jennifer Pemberton is our writer and editor. Music is from Blue Dot Sessions.