. The changing Illinois environment : critical trends : technical report of the Critical Trends Assessment Project. Man; Pollution; Environmental protection; Ecology; Environmental impact analysis. QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF COAL CONSUMPTION sophisticated coal cleaning technologies all helped to bring about the stabilization. Other influential stabilizing factors were the increasing role of nuclear power and declining energy prices after 1981. Electric utilities used the changed circumstances to reduce their dependence on higher priced western coals. The role of nuclear energy is especially promi
. The changing Illinois environment : critical trends : technical report of the Critical Trends Assessment Project. Man; Pollution; Environmental protection; Ecology; Environmental impact analysis. QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF COAL CONSUMPTION sophisticated coal cleaning technologies all helped to bring about the stabilization. Other influential stabilizing factors were the increasing role of nuclear power and declining energy prices after 1981. Electric utilities used the changed circumstances to reduce their dependence on higher priced western coals. The role of nuclear energy is especially promi- nent during the 1980s when coal consumption by elec- tric utilities in Illinois dropped from 36 million tons in 1980 to 27 million tons in 1990 (fig. 6). Nuclear-gener- ated electricity increased its share of the market from 27% to 56%. As Illinois utilities consumed more western coal in the 1970s, the average heat value of coal consumed began to decline (fig. 7), falling ft-om about 10,750 Btu/lb in 1969 to about 10,250 Btu/lb in 1979. (Data on coal qual- ity are generally deficient during 1977-1978, the early years of the formation of the Department of Energy. This becomes evident in the following discus- sion of coal quality.) Imports of western coal declined in the 1980s; and the average Btu/lb of coal regained its pre-1970 level by 1990. The Btu content of coal is im- portant for two reasons. First, the higher Btu coals gen- erally contain less moisture and thus burn more effi- ciently; and second, the higher Btu coals reduce the total fuel costs because fewer tons of coal must be pur- chased and hauled. An important indicator of coal quality is its sulfiir con- tent. Before the first clean air regulations were imple- mented in 1971, sulfur was not a factor that needed attention. Data on the average sulfur content of coal con- sumed in Illinois are available only since 1973, although there is still a gap for the year 1977 (fig. 8). The average sulfur content of coal
Size: 1876px × 1331px
Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, booksubjecte, booksubjectecology, booksubjectman
