Plant Bowen, the third largest coal-fired power station in the United States.Sources of electricity for 2016.[1]Coal electrical generation (black line), compared to other sources, 1949–2016Coal power generation in 2011 by state.
Coal generated about 19.5% of the electricity at utility-scale facilities in the United States in 2022, down from 38.6% in 2014[2] and 51% in 2001.[3] In 2021, coal supplied 9.5 quadrillion British thermal units (2,800 TWh) of primary energy to electric power plants,[4] which made up 90% of coal's contribution to U.S. energy supply.[5] Utilities buy more than 90% of the coal consumed in the United States.[6]
There were over 200 coal powered units across the United States in 2022.[7] Coal plants have been closing since the 2010s due to cheaper and cleaner natural gas and renewables. Due to measures such as scrubbers air pollution from the plants kills far fewer people nowadays, but deaths in 2020 from PM 2.5 have been estimated at 1600.[8] Environmentalists say that political action is needed to close them faster, to also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the United States and better limit climate change.[9]
Coal has been used to generate electricity in the United States since an Edison plant was built in New York City in 1882.[10] The first AC power station was opened by General Electric in Ehrenfeld, Pennsylvania in 1902, servicing the Webster Coal and Coke Company.[10] By the mid-20th century, coal had become the leading fuel for generating electricity in the US. The long, steady rise of coal-fired generation of electricity shifted to a decline after 2007. The decline has been linked to the increased availability of natural gas, decreased consumption,[11] renewable power, and more stringent environmental regulations. The Environmental Protection Agency has advanced restrictions on coal plants to counteract mercury pollution, smog, and global warming.
^Electric power monthly Feb. 2017, eia.gov
^Cite error: The named reference EIAPOWERMONTHLY was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference total1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Table 2.6 Electric Power Sector Energy Consumption" (PDF). U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Retrieved May 25, 2022.
^"Table 1.3 Primary Energy Consumption by Source" (PDF). U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Retrieved May 25, 2022.
^"Industrial plans spur coal price spike – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review". Archived from the original on September 11, 2008. Retrieved September 9, 2008.
^Sönnichsen, N. (August 3, 2022). "Number of coal power plants by country 2022". Statista. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
^Lakhani, Nina (November 23, 2023). "US coal power plants killed at least 460,000 people in past 20 years – report". The Guardian.
^Storrow, Benjamin. "Why the U.S. Didn't Join 40 Other Countries in Pledge to End Coal". Scientific American. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
^ abSpeight, James G. (September 4, 2012). The Chemistry and Technology of Coal, Third Edition. CRC Press. p. 13. ISBN 9781439836460.
^Cite error: The named reference sipa2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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