燃煤电厂(Coal-fired power plants)

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theinventionoftheincandescentlightbulbbythomasa.edisonin1879createdademandforacheap,readilyavailablefuelwithwhichtogeneratelargeamountsofelectricpower.coalseemedtofitthebill,anditfueledtheearliestpowerstations.(whichweresetupattheendofthenieenthcenturybyedisonhimself).

asmorepowerplantswereconstructedthroughoutthecountry,therelianceoncoalincreasedthroughoutthecountry,therelianceoncoalincreased.sincethefirstworldwar,coal-firedpowerplantshadabinedintheunitedstateseachyear.in1986suchplantshadabinedgeneratingcapacityof289,000megawattsandconsumed83percentofthenearly900milliontonsofcoalminedinthecountrythatyear.

giventheuncertaintyinthefuturegrowthofthenearly900milliontonsofcoalminedinthecountrythatyear.giventheuncertaintyinthefuturegrowthofnuclearpowerandinthesupplyofoilandnaturalgas,coal-firedpowerplantscouldwellprovideupto70percentoftheelectricpowerintheunitedstatesbytheendofthecentury.

yet,inspiteofthefactthatcoalhaslongbeenasourceofelectricityandmayremainonformanyyears(coalrepresentsabout80percentofunitedstatesfossil-fuelreserves),ithasactuallyneverbeenthemostdesirablefossilfuelforpowerplants.coalcontainslessenergyperunitofweightthanweightthannaturalgasoroil;itisdifficulttotransport,anditisassociatedwithahostofenvironmentalissues,amongthemacidrain.sincethelate1960'sproblemsofemissioncontrolandwastedisposalhavesharplyreducedtheappealofcoal-firedpowerplants.thecostofamelioratingtheseenvironmentproblemsalongwiththerisingcostofbuildingafacilityaslargeandplexasacoal-firedpowerplant,havealsomadesuchplantslessattractivefromapurelyeconomicperspective.

changesinthetechnologicalbaseofcoal-firedpowerplantscouldrestoretheirattractiveness,however.whereassomeofthesechangesareintendedmainlytoincreasetheproductivityofexistingplants,pletelynewtechnologiesforburningcoalcleanlyarealsobeingdeveloped.