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Home > Key Issues & Mandates > Secure & Reliable Energy Supplies > Market & Policy Drivers
Key Issues & Mandates Clean Power Generation - Market and Policy Drivers
By 2025, our Nation's consumption of electricity is projected to grow by 50 percent versus 2003 levels. To meet this rising demand, w hile also retiring inefficient older plants, 281,000 megaw atts of new pow er generation capacity w ill be needed by 2025 equivalent to almost 950 new pow er plants of 300 megaw atts each.1 Demand for electricity is grow ing even faster on a global basis particularly in developing countries. Coal reserves are abundant in the United States and in many areas of the w orld, making coal an attractive option for new pow er plants from the standpoint of affordability and supply reliability. Yet coal's considerable energy potential is accompanied by significant challenges related to its effects on the environment and human health.
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C oal is c ritic al to the ec onomy of the U nited States . C oal- fired generation and the U .S. gros s domes tic produc t (G D P ) have grown at nearly the s ame pac e over the las t 3 0 years .
Advanced technologies w iden the policy options available for addressing this challenge. The President's National Energy Policy specifically endorses clean coal technology RD&D that can help pow er generators cost effectively meet environmental standards through improved efficiency and pollution controls. Coal pow er plants have been a cornerstone of our Nation's pow er generation capabilities for decades. In the future, they are expected to remain a major contributor to a diverse and reliable U.S. energy portfolio. Domestic coal is projected to remain plentiful and affordable for decades to come. Indeed, the United States has 272 billion tons of coal reserves w ith an energy value roughly comparable to all the w orld's know n oil reserves.2 Based on current rates of consumption, the U.S. coal supply could last
P roved res erves of domes tic c oal are more than 2 0 0 times that of oil and natural gas . Bas ed on c urrent rates of c ons umption, s upplies c ould las t another 2 0 0 years .
another 200 years.3 The United States is not alone in having rich coal
resources. About three-quarters of the w orld's total estimated coal reserves are outside the United States, including in rapidly grow ing countries. With international demand for electricity outpacing U.S. demand in coming decades, coal pow er generation is likely to grow dramatically in many regions. U.S. and international policymakers continue to seek options for reducing the environmental and health consequences of coal use. Federal R&D efforts focus on expanding the policy options available for economically and effectively addressing these issues. Advanced technologies can be instrumental in enabling tomorrow 's coal K K K Lhf L ~| K O NLP
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k bqi W = ~= ` m d = ~ and effectively addressing these issues. Advanced technologies can be instrumental in enabling tomorrow 's coal pow er plants to meet current and pending regulations w hile providing the affordable electricity essential to economic vitality.
T hrough 2 0 2 5 , c oal is projec ted to c ontinue meeting about half of U .S. elec tric ity demand.
C oal is us ed in the U nited States today almos t exc lus ively for power generation.
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k bqi W = ~= ` m d = ~ pow er plant emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides by setting a national cap on each pollutant. The proposed legislation also sets a cap for mercury emissions, w hich had not been previously regulated as a pow er plant pollutant. Water quality. The link betw een pow er generation and w ater quality is clearly recognized in President Bush's National Energy Policy. Fossil-fueled pow er plants account for approximately 39 percent of the w ater used in the United States, second only to agriculture. Most of the w ater is used for cooling. Water quality can be affected by the intake and discharge of cooling w ater as w ell as by pow er plant air emissions. Under regulations established by the EPA, several legislative acts potentially could impact w ater quality requirements and w aste use for fossil pow er generation. These include the Clean Water Act, Safe Water Drinking Act, and Resource Recovery and Conservation Act.
World elec tric ity demand will c ontinue to grow fas ter than U .S. demand.
E ven with c oal demand s teadily inc reas ing, emis s ions of c riteria pollutants are at their lowes t levels ever. N E T L RD &D will ultimately lead to c oal tec hnologies that res ult in near- zero emis s ions of all c riteria pollutants and C O 2 .
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E nergy I nformation A dminis tration, A nnual E nergy O utlook 2 0 0 5 (referenc e c as e) C oal A Sec ure U .S. E nergy Sourc e, N ational C oal C ounc il A V is ion for A c hieving U ltra- L ow E mis s ions from C oal- Fueled E lec tric G eneration, C oal- Bas ed G eneration Stakeholders G roup, J anuary 2 0 0 5 E nergy I nformation A dminis tration, A nnual E nergy O utlook 2 0 0 5 (referenc e c as e) E nergy I nformation A dminis tration, I nternational E nergy O utlook 2 0 0 5
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