Coal consumption

X 10 J/kg(10.4 X 10 Btu/lb) in 1990. The shift in coal production toward western coal deposits also reflects the shift in coal utilization patterns (Table 7). Electric utiUties are increasing coal consumption on both absolute and percentage bases, whereas coke plants, other industrial operations, and residential and commercial coal users are decreasing use of this soHd fossil fuel. 

The demand for energy is continually increasing and the highest energy consumption in the world occurs in the United States. In 1989 consumption totaled 8.6 x 10 MJ (81.3 x 10 Btu) or 11.7 metric tons of coal-equivalent per capita (85). World recoverable reserves were about 120 times the annual coal production in 1988 and about 10 times that for the additional reserves beheved to be in place (1). Estimated coal consumption reduces the known recoverable reserves at about 1%/yr. Whereas the use of bituminous coal is expected to continue to increase in terms of tonnage, the percentage of coal used in the United States has stabilized as shown in Table 11. 

SASOLII a.ndIII. Two additional plants weie built and aie in operation in South Africa near Secunda. The combined annual coal consumption for SASOL II, commissioned in 1980, and SASOL III, in 1983, is 25 x 10 t, and these plants together produce approximately 1.3 x lO" m (80,000 barrels) per day of transportation fuels. A block flow diagram for these processes is shown in Figure 15. The product distribution for SASOL II and III is much narrower in comparison to SASOL I. The later plants use only fluid-bed reactor technology, and extensive use of secondary catalytic processing of intermediates (alkylation, polymerisation, etc) is practiced to maximise the production of transportation fuels. 

See also. Coal, Consumption of Coal, Transportation and Storage of. 

In the early 1970s, coal consumption once again equaled its earlier peak in the early 1950s and continued to grab a larger share of the electricity-generation market due to the price and supply problems of petroleum and natural gas. 

See also. Air Conditioning Air Quality, Indoor Appliances Building Design, Residential Coal Consumption of Consumption Edison, Thomas Alva Electric Power Transmission and Distribution Systems Heat and Heating Insulation Lighting Natural Gas, Consumption... 

See also Air Pollution Climatic Effects Coal, Consumption ol Energy Management Control Systems. 

The basic price of coal at the pit is based on the coal gross calorific value, with allowances then made for the ash, sulfur and chlorine contents. The haulage charges depend on the distance from the pit to the site and on the method of delivery. Tipper-vehicle deliveries are cheaper than conveyor vehicles which, in turn, are cheaper than the pneumatic (blower) vehicles. The method of delivery will obviously be decided by a combination of space and cleanliness factors. In the case of certain customers, special agreements may be available at special rates where the annual coal consumption is large and the supplier wishes to retain the market. 

The Industrial Revolution came hand-in-hand with the use of fossil fuels. Although coal had been used for heating and in metallurgy since at least the thirteenth century, it was not until the invention and refinement of the steam engine that coal consumption increased greatly. By the middle of the nineteenth century, work done by machines exceeded the work done by animal power. While steam engines were mainly fueled by coal, the advent of the internal combustion engine required a volatile fuel, and petroleum distillates are perfectly suited for this purpose. 

A Department of Energy study compared alternative paths for future U.S. energy use business-as-usual and energy-efficient. Both projections suggested a substantial rise in U.S. production C02 and the consumption of fossil fuels over the next few decades. The study predicted an increase in energy between 1985 and 2010 of about 30%. The projected oil and gas increase remained relatively constant over this period, but coal consumption increased greatly by more than 100%. C02 emissions rose from 1.25 billion metric tons per year to about 1.73 billion metric tons in 2010. This is a 38% increase in C02. 

Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel in the U.S. and many other countries. In the U.S. coal makes up about 95% of all fossil energy reserves. These reserves could last several hundred years at the current level of coal consumption. Major developing countries such as China and India, which are now using more and more of the world s oil, also have large coal reserves. 

Figure 3.3. Development of oil, gas and coal consumption for different world regions since 1965 and demand projections until 2030 (BP, 2006 IEA, 2006).

Hard coal production Hard coal consumption ... 

This corresponds to approximately the surface area of French and Germany combined. To replace the world coal consumption by biomass grown from wood one would need a surface area of 330 x 106 ha, which is more than the total forested land in the European Union and the United States. There is an order of magnitude difference between the two numbers in favor of solar energy [4],... 

Since only relatively simple equipment is required, it should prove feasible to flash-pyrolyze the coal at the generating station or at the mine at which it is produced, and to transport the primary liquids from several operations to a large central upgrading facility. In Alberta alone, where coal consumption by electric utilities is expected to climb from an annual rate of 6.5 million tons In 1977 to 16-17 million tons in 1985 and... 

Figure 5. Computer plots of experimental parameter, burn No, S, (a) Coal consumption and (b) input and output gas flow rates.

Matsumoto and co-workers rationalize their results for BaP levels and the increasing ratio of direct/indi-rect in terms of changes in source strengths. Thus, there was a large decrease in coal consumption in the Sapporo area, from 375,000 tons in 1975 to only 20 tons in 1992. Concurrently, there was a large increase in the number of motor vehicles in that area, from 300,000 in 1975 to over one million in 1992, and the percentage of diesel-powered vehicles went from <10% in 1975 to 32% in 1992. 

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