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Coal-firedPower Plants The invention of the incandescent light bulb by Thomas A. Edison in1879 created a demand for a cheap, readily available fuel with which togenerate large amounts of electric power. Coal seemed to fit the bill, and itfueled the earliest power stations . As more power plants wereconstructed throughout the country, the reliance on coal increased. Since the First WorldWar, coal-fired power plants have accounted for about half of theelectricity produced in the United States each year. In 1986 such plantshad a combined generating capacity of 289, 000 megawatts and consumed 83percent of the nearly 900 million tons of coal mined in the country thatyear. Given the uncertainty in the future growth of nuclear power and inthe supply of oil and natural gas, coal-fired power plants could well provideup to 70 percent of the electric power in the United States by the end ofthe century. Yet, in spite of the fact that coal has long been asource of electricity and may remain one for many years , it has actually never been the most desirable fossil fuel for power plants.Coal contains less energy per unit of weight than natural gas or oil; it isdifficult to transport, and it is associated with a host of environmentalissues, among them acid rain. Since the late 1960s problems of emissioncontrol and waste disposal have sharply reduced the appeal of coal-fired powerplants. The cost of ameliorating these environmental problems alongwith the rising cost of building a facility as large and complex as acoal-fired power plant, have also made such plants less attractivefrom a purely economic perspective. | 
