Developing clean coal technology: advances may extend the efficiency and economy of fossil fuels in the future- and leave the environment intact

摘要

For the foreseeable future, the United States must rely upon its abundant and reliable coal resources to meet growing electricity demand, maintain competitive energy rates, and sustain economic growth. Coal is the nation's most plentiful and lowest-cost fuel for secure and reliable electric power generation, currently providing more than half of the electricity generated in the United States. In terms of energy value (measured as British thermal units, Btus), coal constitutes approximately 95 of total U.S. domestic fossil energy reserves (coal, oil, and natural gas) and has the energy equivalent of about 1 trillion barrels of crude oil, which is comparable to all the world's known oil reserves (1). However, for coal to remain a mainstay of electric power generation, both existing and new plants must be able to comply with increasingly stringent environmental standards (2).