Data for U.S. Moving Toward Ban on New Coal-Fired Power Plants

Selected Health Impacts from Air Pollution from Power Plants in the United States (table)

U.S. Coal Consumption for Electricity Generation, 1950-2007 (figure and table)

U.S. Electricity Generation from Coal-fired Power Plants and Share of Total Electricity Generation, 1950-2006 (figure and table)

U.S. Installed Electricity Generating Capacity by Source, 1990-2006 (table)

Current U.S. Coal-fired Electricity Generating Capacity by Year of Initial Operation (figure and table)

U.S. Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Electricity and Heat Generation, 1990-2005 (figure and table)

 

Selected Health Impacts from Air Pollution from Power Plants in the United States
Health Effect	Incidence
	Cases Per Year
Mortality	23,600
Hospital Admissions	21,850
Emergency Room Visits for Asthma	26,000
Heart Attacks	38,200
Chronic Bronchitiss	16,200
Asthma Attacks	554,000
Lost Work Days	3,186,000
Source: Conrad G. Schneider, Dirty Air, Dirty Power (Washington, DC: Clear the Air, June 2004), based on Abt Associates Inc., et al., Power Plant Emissions: Particulate Matter-Related Health Damages and the Benefits of Alternative Emission Reduction Scenarios (Boston: June 2004).

 

U.S. Coal Consumption for Electricity Generation, 1950-2007
Year	Consumption
	Million Tons
1950	83.3
1951	96.0
1952	97.1
1953	105.1
1954	107.4
1955	130.4
1956	143.6
1957	145.8
1958	141.3
1959	152.8
1960	160.3
1961	165.3
1962	175.4
1963	191.7
1964	204.5
1965	222.1
1966	241.7
1967	248.7
1968	270.1
1969	281.8
1970	290.5
1971	296.9
1972	319.1
1973	353.1
1974	355.4
1975	368.3
1976	406.8
1977	432.8
1978	436.6
1979	478.1
1980	516.4
1981	541.4
1982	538.6
1983	567.2
1984	602.7
1985	629.4
1986	621.5
1987	651.3
1988	688.0
1989	700.5
1990	709.9
1991	711.1
1992	721.3
1993	754.5
1994	760.5
1995	771.3
1996	813.7
1997	835.8
1998	849.7
1999	853.6
2000	894.3
2001	874.9
2002	886.8
2003	911.8
2004	921.9
2005	941.2
2006	931.3
2007	951.2
Note: 2007 is a projection based on the first 10 months of 2007.
Source: 1950-2006 from U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Information Administration (EIA), "Coal Consumption by Sector," Table 7.3 in Annual Energy Review,  (Washington, DC:  27 June 2007); 2007 from DOE, EIA, "Coal Consumption by Sector," Table 6.2 in January 2008 Monthly Energy Review (Washington, DC: 28 January 2008).

 

U.S. Electricity Generation from Coal-fired Power Plants and Share of Total Electricity Generation, 1950-2006
Year	Electricity Generation from Coal	Electricity Generation from All Sources	Share of Electricity Generation from Coal
	Billion Kilowatt-hours		Percent
1950	155	334	46.3
1951	185	375	49.3
1952	195	404	48.4
1953	219	447	49.0
1954	239	476	50.2
1955	301	550	54.8
1956	339	604	56.1
1957	346	635	54.6
1958	344	648	53.1
1959	378	713	53.0
1960	403	759	53.1
1961	422	797	52.9
1962	450	858	52.5
1963	494	920	53.7
1964	526	987	53.3
1965	571	1,058	53.9
1966	613	1,148	53.5
1967	630	1,218	51.8
1968	685	1,333	51.4
1969	706	1,445	48.8
1970	704	1,535	45.9
1971	713	1,616	44.1
1972	771	1,753	44.0
1973	848	1,864	45.5
1974	828	1,870	44.3
1975	853	1,921	44.4
1976	944	2,041	46.3
1977	985	2,127	46.3
1978	976	2,209	44.2
1979	1,075	2,251	47.8
1980	1,162	2,290	50.7
1981	1,203	2,298	52.4
1982	1,192	2,244	53.1
1983	1,259	2,313	54.4
1984	1,342	2,419	55.5
1985	1,402	2,473	56.7
1986	1,386	2,490	55.6
1987	1,464	2,575	56.8
1988	1,541	2,707	56.9
1989	1,584	2,967	53.4
1990	1,594	3,038	52.5
1991	1,591	3,074	51.7
1992	1,621	3,084	52.6
1993	1,690	3,197	52.9
1994	1,691	3,248	52.1
1995	1,709	3,353	51.0
1996	1,795	3,444	52.1
1997	1,845	3,492	52.8
1998	1,874	3,620	51.8
1999	1,881	3,695	50.9
2000	1,966	3,802	51.7
2001	1,904	3,737	51.0
2002	1,933	3,858	50.1
2003	1,974	3,883	50.8
2004	1,979	3,971	49.8
2005	2,013	4,055	49.6
2006	1,987	4,053	49.0
Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, "Electricity Net Generation - Total," Table 8.2a in Annual Energy Review (Washington, DC: 27 June 2007).

 

U.S. Installed Electricity Generating Capacity by Source, 1990-2006
Year	Coal	Oil	Natural Gas	Nuclear	Hydropower	Biomass	Wind	Solar	Geothermal	Total
	Gigawatts
1990	307.4	49.4	169.3	99.6	93.4	8.1	1.8	0.3	2.7	734.1
1991	307.4	48.0	173.9	99.6	94.4	9.1	1.9	0.3	2.6	739.9
1992	309.4	46.6	178.7	99.0	96.0	9.2	1.8	0.3	2.9	746.5
1993	310.1	45.1	184.6	99.0	98.6	9.6	1.8	0.3	2.9	754.6
1994	311.4	44.0	192.5	99.1	99.2	10.0	1.7	0.3	3.0	764.0
1995	311.4	44.7	196.4	99.5	99.9	10.3	1.7	0.3	3.0	769.5
1996	313.4	45.3	201.4	100.8	97.5	10.4	1.7	0.3	2.9	775.9
1997	313.6	45.7	203.2	99.7	98.7	10.5	1.6	0.3	2.9	778.6
1998	315.8	43.0	203.6	97.1	98.7	10.5	1.7	0.3	2.9	775.9
1999	315.5	43.3	211.9	97.4	99.0	10.5	2.3	0.4	2.8	785.9
2000	315.1	61.8	219.6	97.9	98.9	10.0	2.4	0.4	2.8	811.7
2001	314.2	66.2	252.8	98.2	98.6	9.7	3.9	0.4	2.2	848.3
2002	315.4	59.7	312.5	98.7	99.7	9.7	4.4	0.4	2.3	905.3
2003	313.0	60.7	355.4	99.2	99.2	9.7	6.0	0.4	2.1	948.4
2004	313.0	59.1	371.0	99.6	98.4	9.8	6.5	0.4	2.2	962.9
2005	313.4	58.5	383.1	100.0	98.9	9.8	8.7	0.4	2.3	978.0
2006	314.1	58.3	389.8	100.1	99.0	10.0	11.1	0.4	2.3	988.1
Compound Annual Growth Rate, 2000-2006	-0.1	-1.0	10.0	0.4	0.0	-0.1	29.3	1.0	-3.1	3.3
Notes: Installed capacity is from electric utilities, independent power producers, commercial plants, and industrial plants. Residential installations are not included. Biomass includes power from both wood waste and municipal solid waste. Solar includes both solar thermal and photovoltaic power. Total includes all energy sources listed as well as installed capacity for other gases such as blast furnace gas and propane.
Source: Compiled by Earth Policy Institute from U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, "Electric Net Summer Capacity - Total," Table 8.11a in Annual Energy Review (Washington, DC: 27 June 2007).

 

Current U.S. Coal-fired Electricity Generating Capacity by Year of Initial Operation
Year	Generating Capacity
	Megawatts
1921	12
1922	0
1923	0
1924	6
1925	25
1926	0
1927	2
1928	3
1929	24
1930	35
1931	0
1932	0
1933	0
1934	3
1935	3
1936	9
1937	14
1938	29
1939	43
1940	101
1941	119
1942	207
1943	351
1944	173
1945	108
1946	54
1947	264
1948	468
1949	1,169
1950	1,579
1951	1,887
1952	3,203
1953	4,774
1954	6,809
1955	7,750
1956	2,374
1957	4,040
1958	7,472
1959	7,767
1960	6,113
1961	5,096
1962	4,467
1963	4,557
1964	5,124
1965	6,067
1966	4,695
1967	8,322
1968	10,461
1969	12,587
1970	12,288
1971	13,292
1972	12,359
1973	16,565
1974	11,907
1975	11,255
1976	8,751
1977	12,297
1978	12,958
1979	10,612
1980	15,839
1981	10,319
1982	12,361
1983	6,528
1984	10,880
1985	7,225
1986	6,330
1987	4,568
1988	2,058
1989	3,531
1990	2,223
1991	3,464
1992	1,662
1993	194
1994	1,074
1995	2,034
1996	1,908
1997	98
1998	83
1999	378
2000	131
2001	514
2002	11
2003	88
2004	633
2005	450
2006	603
Source: Compiled by Earth Policy Institute from U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, Annual Electric Generator Report, Form EIA-860 database, at www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/page/eia860.html, updated 2007.

 

U.S. Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Electricity and Heat Generation, 1990-2005
Year	Coal	Oil	Natural Gas	Other	Total
	Million Tons Carbon
1990	428.8	32.3	63.5	2.1	526.7
1991	428.8	30.1	64.6	2.4	525.8
1992	435.5	26.1	67.3	2.8	531.7
1993	454.4	29.2	68.0	2.9	554.5
1994	457.0	27.8	75.0	3.1	562.9
1995	463.1	20.8	81.0	3.3	568.2
1996	487.8	22.7	75.4	3.5	589.4
1997	500.4	25.3	79.5	3.7	608.9
1998	508.1	33.4	88.9	3.6	633.9
1999	509.9	31.3	93.1	3.5	637.8
2000	534.6	29.3	98.6	3.4	665.9
2001	516.9	31.7	99.6	3.6	651.7
2002	521.6	24.6	102.8	4.1	653.2
2003	531.0	30.3	93.7	3.9	658.8
2004	535.3	31.3	99.6	3.9	670.1
2005	545.8	31.6	104.2	4.0	685.5
Note: "Other" includes carbon dioxide from geothermal steam and the combustion of tire-derived fuel and plastic from municipal solid waste.
Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, "Emissions from Energy Consumption for Electricity Generation and Useful Thermal Output - Total," Table 12.7a in Annual Energy Review (Washington, DC: 27 June 2007).