US coal industry: the economics of policy choice. [USA; 1946 to 1974; major uses]
The main supply and demand influences shaping the US coal industry can be viewed as in a tug-of-war. A set of forces is causing movement toward the west. These forces dominate the current scene. Pulling in that direction are sulfur regulations (excluding BACT), labor cost trends, and shifting demand centers. Sulfur regulations cause an expansion in low-sulfur western output. Rising labor costs cause a shift at the margin to strip mining. Depletion of strip reserves in the eastern United States means that the shift to strip mining is also a shift to western mining, where strip reserves are plentiful and relatively low in cost. Both these trends are reinforced by the emergence of the states west of the Mississippi River as coal demanders. This change in demand patterns provides a base level of demand for western coal that implies, even in the absence of other factors, a healthy growth rate for western coal production. These trends will occur even under extremely optimistic assumptions about nuclear power. The developments pulling eastward are policy related. Regulations mandating best available control technology (BACT) for sulfur removal cause the midwest to reduce its reliance on western coal. The attempt to capture rents through higher taxes and railroad rates also slows the expansion of western coal. This tug-of-war will determine how much western coal moves east. The results of our analyses indicate that coal will be used primarily by electric utilities. Industrial use of coal grows but still remains a relatively small fraction of total coal consumption.
- OSTI ID:
- 6417476
- Resource Relation:
- Related Information: MIT Press Energy Laboratory Series, 3
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
COAL
FUEL CONSUMPTION
PRODUCTION
SUPPLY AND DEMAND
TRANSPORT
COAL DEPOSITS
MAPS
COAL INDUSTRY
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
ELECTRIC POWER
USA
CLEAN AIR ACT
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
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NUMERICAL DATA
PETROLEUM
PRICES
QUANTITY RATIO
REGULATIONS
SULFUR
SURFACE MINING
SURFACE MINING ACTS
UNDERGROUND MINING
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
DATA
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NONMETALS
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015000* - Coal
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294001 - Energy Planning & Policy- Coal