Coal Combustion Product (CCPs) Production and Use: Current Trends

摘要

Electricity accounts for about 35 percent of the primary energy use in the United States, and is produced by electric power generating stations, designed to convert different fuel types into electricity. In 1994, 52% of the electricity was produced by coal fired electric utilities. This number is projected to remain fairly constant to the year 2015 (1). Almost 90% of the coal used in the United States, is burned to generate electricity. During 1996, approximately 800 million metric tons (870 million short tons) of coal were burned to generate electricity. As a result, over 90 million tons (100 million short tons) of coal combustion products (CCPs) were generated by the electric utilities. This figure promises to increase in the future, owing mostly to the anticipated rise in flue gas desulfurization (FGD) material generation.