Characterizing the U.S. industrial base for coal-powered electricity
Coal-fired generating units provide approximately 46 percent of the electricity generated in the United States, yet most of the existing coalfired electricity-generating fleet is 25-45 years old. Deploying new coal-fired electricity-generating units (EGUs) and maintenance of the existing fleet requi...
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
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Santa Monica, CA
RAND
2011, 2011
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| Series: | RAND Corporation monograph series
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| Online Access: | |
| Collection: | JSTOR Open Access Books - Collection details see MPG.ReNa |
| Summary: | Coal-fired generating units provide approximately 46 percent of the electricity generated in the United States, yet most of the existing coalfired electricity-generating fleet is 25-45 years old. Deploying new coal-fired electricity-generating units (EGUs) and maintenance of the existing fleet requires an industrial capacity to provide equipment, skilled labor, and project management expertise. However, in the near term, the domestic industrial base to provide the capacity for future coal-based EGUs faces several challenges. These include low demand for new conventional and advanced coal units in the next several years, regulatory uncertainty regarding emission standards for conventional pollutants and greenhouse gases, competition from other electricity-generation fuels, and an aging workforce. To better understand these challenges, NETL asked RAND to describe the current state of the domestic industrial base for coal-based electricity generation. RAND was asked to focus on coal-fired EGU design and construction, technology development, and equipment manufacturing. This monograph addresses the concern about whether the industrial base for the U.S. domestic coal-based electricity-generation industry can maintain the capability to design, construct, operate, and maintain coal-fired EGUs within reasonable cost, schedule, performance, environmental, and quality expectations. By first describing the capability that is inherent in the existing coal-fired fleet, this monograph takes a first step toward addressing the larger policy questions of how to develop, deploy, and maintain an advanced, lowcarbon electricity-generation industry capability into the future |
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| Item Description: | "Sponsored by the National Energy Technology Laboratory.". - Title from PDF cover screen (viewed on Nov. 4, 2011) |
| Physical Description: | xxx, 125 pages color illustrations (digital, PDF file) |
| ISBN: | 0833059181 6613530751 9786613530752 1280126892 9780833059185 9781280126895 |