The article argues it was the other way around - that pumping water out of mines was the use case that allowed steam engines to be funded and improved to the point that they could be used for other things.
This is really interesting! And it's missing from A Farewell to Alms (IIRC).
It seems the textile industry and the train are the large drivers that demand more coal. But it doesn't mention the water pumping problem or the atmospheric steam engine.
That being said - assuming you have an abundance of "Big Burly Men and Daft Animals" - as the article put it - I'm skeptical the steam engine would've found a viable use.
Assuming England hadn't run out of forested land - they wouldn't have been extracting so much coal.
I still think the key points from A Farewell to Alms stand - but this is a super interesting nugget that should've made the book (if it didn't).
