Coal sector profile [electronic resource]
Coal is our largest domestic energy resource with recoverable reserves estimated at 268 billion short tons or 5.896 quads Btu equivalent. This is approximately 95 percent of US fossil energy resources. It is relatively inexpensive to mine, and on a per Btu basis it is generally much less costly to p...
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Online Access |
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| Format: | Government Document Electronic eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Washington, D.C. : Oak Ridge, Tenn. :
United States. Dept. of Energy ; distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Dept. of Energy,
1990.
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| Summary: | Coal is our largest domestic energy resource with recoverable reserves estimated at 268 billion short tons or 5.896 quads Btu equivalent. This is approximately 95 percent of US fossil energy resources. It is relatively inexpensive to mine, and on a per Btu basis it is generally much less costly to produce than other energy sources. Its chief drawbacks are the environmental, health and safety concerns that must be addressed in its production and consumption. Historically, coal has played a major role in US energy markets. Coal fueled the railroads, heated the homes, powered the factories. and provided the raw materials for steel-making. In 1920, coal supplied over three times the amount of energy of oil, gas, and hydro combined. From 1920 until the mid 1970s, coal production remained fairly constant at 400 to 600 million short tons a year. Rapid increases in overall energy demands, which began during and after World War II were mostly met by oil and gas. By the mid 1940s, coal represented only half of total energy consumption in the US. In fact, post-war coal production, which had risen in support of the war effort and the postwar Marshall plan, decreased approximately 25 percent between 1945 and 1960. Coal demand in the post-war era up until the 1970s was characterized by increasing coal use by the electric utilities but decreasing coal use in many other markets (e.g., rail transportation). The oil price shocks of the 1970s, combined with natural gas shortages and problems with nuclear power, returned coal to a position of prominence. The greatly expanded use of coal was seen as a key building block in US energy strategies of the 1970s. Coal production increased from 613 million short tons per year in 1970 to 950 million short tons in 1988, up over 50 percent. |
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| Item Description: | Published through the Information Bridge: DOE Scientific and Technical Information. 06/05/1990. "doe/fe/61679--t14" "DE93041321" |
| Physical Description: | 84 p. : digital, PDF file. |