Reliance on Coal Growing
Coal is and will be the fuel of choice to produce the nation's electricity, a group of industry and utility experts testified at a hearing of the House Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee.The June 24 hearing was called to explore the future of coal as a source of electricity throughout the 21st century in an electric utility industry that will be greatly affected by the energy bill in Congress.
"Coal is electricity," said Frank Burke, vice president of research and development for CONSOL Energy Inc., a Pennsylvania company developing high-tech ways to use coal as fuel.
In his testimony before lawmakers, Burke compared coal to the requirements of human survival. "We can live for days without water, and perhaps weeks without food and shelter, but for only minutes without oxygen (and) in the United States' economy, electricity is the equivalent of oxygen," Burke said. "Without electricity, the economy would grind to a halt within minutes."
Burke warned however, that unlike oxygen, coal must be mined and delivered continuously and in ever increasing amounts.
"By 2025 we will need 55% more electricity than we generate today, he said, adding that the demand for coal will increase correspondingly even as pressure will continue for more efficient and emission-free coal combustion.
"Coal is the workhorse of the electric power sector," said George Rudins, deputy assistant secretary for coal and power systems, Department of Energy.
Rudins said the focus of coal research is to continue reducing its emissions as worldwide consumption increases. Rudins said that technological advances since the passage of environmental laws in the mid-1970s demonstrate that clean-burning coal is a real possibility.
While the annual use of coal has increased 3-fold since 1970, annual sulfur dioxide emissions have steadily dropped from 15.8 million tons to 10.7 million tons in 2000. In addition, particulates from coal-based plants declined some 60% over the same period. The decline in emissions is even greater at power plants owned by electric cooperatives, since our power plants tend to be newer than the rest of the electric power industry and because cooperatives have invested billions of dollars in pollution control equipment.
"Our challenge is to make sure that when it is used, coal is clean, safe and affordable." Technologies that could be future candidates for testing could push electric-power generating efficiencies to 60 percent or more-nearly double the efficiencies of today's conventional plat," Rudins said.
Those who monitor air quality legislation for electric cooperatives know that future improvements will be difficult and expensive to obtain.
An important question to be answered will be how much more is needed and over how much time. Too much too quickly can have an enormous impact on the cost of producing electricity.
Electric cooperatives generate just five percent of the nation’s electricity. So why are they so concerned about future air-quality measures? Approximately 70% of electric cooperative power comes from coal. Coal is by far the lowest-cost fuel for generating electricity, especially with current high gas prices. Anything that affects coal produced energy can have a significant impact on cooperatives.