Why Coal
- • According to government statistics, coal is responsible for 47 percent of the power generated in the United States today.
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- • The average American uses approximately 20 pounds of coal every day in the form of electricity.
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- • Electricity demand has increased 124 percent since 1970 in the United States alone.
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- • Coal is far more abundant than domestic oil or natural gas, and accounts for roughly 95 percent of the nation's fossil energy reserves.
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- • Coal is by far the lowest cost source of fossil fuel power per million Btu, substantially less expensive than petroleum and natural gas.
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- • Coal is the largest freight commodity moved by barges on inland waterways.
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- • U.S. coal markets are dynamically responding to the scarcity of coal in the global landscape.
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- • The U.S. became the swing supplier of coal for the global market in 2007, and demand has only accelerated into 2008.
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- • By 2030, the Department of Energy forecasts that coal will account for 51 percent of power output.
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- • Coal prices have increased in four of five categories as published by the Energy Information Agency.
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- • New technologies including coal-to-liquids will allow coal to be converted and in the process, to be cleaned so it becomes an environmentally compliant fuel.
