 |
It has been suggested that Coal power in the United States be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) |
 |
This article or section has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page.
|
Coal mining in the United States is a major industry, and reached an all-time high of 1.06 Gt (1.17 billion short tons) in 2008, being mined in 25 states. The US was a net exporter of coal in 2008, with the surplus of exports over imports equalling 4% of the total mined.[1]
Contents |
Coal mining areas
Twenty-seven states produce coal.[2] The major coal-producing states are (in descending order as of 2000, with annual production in thousands of short tons)[3][4]:
- Wyoming (338,900).
- West Virginia (158,257)
- Kentucky (130,688)
- Pennsylvania (74,619)
- Texas (49,498)
- Montana (38,352)
- Illinois (33,444)
- Virginia (32,834)
- North Dakota (31,270)
- Colorado (29,137) (see Coal mining in Colorado)
- Indiana (27,965)
- New Mexico (27,323)
- Utah (26,656)
- Ohio (22,269)
- Alabama (19,324)
- Arizona (13,111)
Total United States: 1,437,174
Coal usage
More than 90 percent of the annually-mined coal in the United States is used by the US electrical power industry.[5] Since 2000, the growth of coal-fired power generation has slowed considerably from what it was in the late 1990s.[6] Following a massive and consistent decline in new coal-fired power plant projects that began in the late 1970s, the Bush administration, along with federal and state legislators - faced with rising oil and volatile natural gas prices - has actively promoted coal as a low-cost energy alternative.[citation needed]
Coal accounts for about half of electricity production in the United States. In 2006, there were 1,493 coal-powered generating units at electrical utilities across the US, with total nominal capacity of 335.8 GW[7] (compared to 1024 units at nominal capacity of 278 GW in 2000).[8] Actual power generated from coal in 2006 was 227.1 GW (1.991 trillion kilowatt-hours per year),[9] the highest in the world and still slightly ahead of China (1.95 trillion kilowatt-hours per year) at that time.[10] Back in 2000, US production of electricity from coal was 224.3 GW (1.966 trillion kilowatt-hours per year).[9] In 2006, the US consumed 1,026,636,000 short tons (931,349,000 metric tons) or 92.3% of coal mined for electricity generation.[11]
Opposition
A substantial increase in public concern about global warming that has occurred in the US recently[12] - especially in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and of Al Gore's receipt of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on climate change - has stimulated increasing public opposition to new coal-fired power plants.[13][14] Alongside this shift in public opinion, the growing power of the anti-coal movement - both in the U.S. and internationally, especially in the UK and Australia - has made coal-fired power projects more politically costly, and publicity surrounding anti-coal campaigns has in turn spurred further shifts in public opinion against coal-fired power.[15][16][17]
In an effort to counter this trend, many of the largest coal mining companies, electric utilities, and railroads in the U.S. launched, in 2004, a high-profile marketing campaign, aimed at convincing the American public that coal-fired power can be environmentally sustainable.[18][19][20] However, many leading environmentalists have condemned this campaign as an example of "greenwashing": an attempt to use environmentalist rhetoric to disguise the inherently environmentally unsustainable nature of coal-fired power generation.[21] As the Australian environmental activist Tim Flannery puts it: "Coal can't be clean".[22]
See also
- Americans for Balanced Energy Choices
- Clean coal
- Coal power in the United States
- Coal mining
- Greenhouse gas emissions by the United States
- History of coal mining in the United States
- Environmental effects of coal
References
- ^ F. Freme, "Coal review," Mining Engineering, May 2009, p.50-60.
- ^ http://www.ket.org/Trips/Coal/AGSMM/agsmmwhere.html
- ^ http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/coal/statepro/imagemap/usaimagemap.htm
- ^ http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/coal/cia/html/tbl03p01p1.html
- ^ http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_586978.html
- ^ US Energy Information Administration: Net generation by energy source, accessed 24 January 2009.
- ^ "Existing Electric Generating Units in the United States". Energy Information Administration. 2007. http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/page/capacity/capacity.html. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
- ^ "Inventory of Electric Utility Power Plants in the United States 2000". Energy Information Administration. March, 2002. http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/ipp/html1/t1p01.html. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
- ^ a b "Electric Power Annual with data for 2006". Energy Information Administration. October 2007. http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epat1p1.html. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
- ^ See Wikipedia article on the Chinese Economy
- ^ "U.S. Coal Consumption by End-Use Sector". Energy Information Administration. July 25, 2008. http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/coal/quarterly/html/t25p01p1.html. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
- ^ "Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy 2007 Environment Survey", Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy website, March 7, 2007.
- ^ "Iowans Want Energy Conservation Before New Coal Plants", Environment News Service, December 21, 2007.
- ^ "Kansans Support Decision to Nix Coal Plants, Want Focus on Wind Energy", Lawrence Journal-World, January 4, 2008.
- ^ Nace, Ted. "Stopping Coal In Its Tracks", Orion, January/February 2008.
- ^ "Fight Against Coal Plants Draws Diverse Partners", New York Times, October 20, 2007.
- ^ "You're Getting Warmer", East Bay Express, December 5, 2007.
- ^ "Coal Scores With Wager on Bush Belief", Washington Post, March 25, 2001.
- ^ "Spreading Misleading Messages", San Francisco Chronicle, November 3, 2004.
- ^ "Coal Industry Plugs Into the Campaign", Washington Post, January 18, 2008.
- ^ "Greenwash of the Week: Coal Industry Buys Off CNN debates", Rainforest Action Network Understory blog, January 23, 2008.
- ^ "Coal Can't Be Clean - Flannery", Melbourne Herald Sun, February 14, 2007.
|
||||||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
