FAQs Coal-Fired Plants
What are the advantages of using coal?
Coal is plentiful. In fact, it is the United States’ most abundant fossil fuel. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the United States has approximately 1.7 trillion tons of known coal reserves. They estimate there may be as much as four trillion tons of undiscovered coal deposits (around 250 years’ worth).
In part because of the availability of coal in the United States, coal prices have been relatively stable. That availability and price stability play an important role in helping Duke Energy support economic growth in the Carolinas with an adequate, reliable and low-cost supply of electricity.
Are there environmental issues associated with using coal?
The same rich chemical composition making coal a valuable energy resource also creates byproducts. These include nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide. Duke Energy recognizes that reducing power plant emissions is vital to improving air quality in the United States, and we are making improvements. Since 1995, Duke Energy has reduced nitrogen oxide emissions by 40 percent in the Carolinas.
As a result of North Carolina legislation, we will reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 70 percent by 2013 and reduce nitrogen oxide emissions an additional 33 percent by 2007. These reductions go beyond federal standards. You can learn more about Duke Energy’s commitment to the air quality and the environment in our Environment section.
How long has Duke Energy used coal?
Duke Energy has been using coal to produce electricity in the Carolinas since 1911. Those first coal-fired plants (in Greensboro, North Carolina, and Greenville, South Carolina) only supplemented the company’s use of hydroelectricity. In the 1920s, the growing demand for electricity began to outstrip the availability of hydroelectric generation.
Duke Energy began a shift to using coal as its primary energy source when Buck Steam Station, in Spencer, North Carolina, began producing electricity in 1926. With a station capacity of 369 megawatts of electricity, Buck could produce six times more electricity than the company’s largest hydroelectric generating station at the time—Wylie Hydroelectric Station, with a generating capacity of 60 megawatts.
