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f火力发电厂托马斯爱迪生1879年发明的白炽灯导致对便宜、易得、可生产大量电能的燃料的需求。煤似乎符合这个要求，并成为第一批电厂的燃料正是爱迪生本人在19世纪末建造了第一批电厂。全国到处兴建电厂时，对煤的依赖加深了。自第一次世界大战以来，美国每年约有一半的电力是以煤为燃料的电厂提供的。1986年这些电厂的总发电能力达到28，900千瓦并且消耗了当年全国开采的九亿吨煤的83。考虑到核能发展以及石油、天然气供应中的不确定因素，到本世纪末，火力发电厂仍可能为美国提供多达70的电力。
然而，尽管煤长期以来一直是电力的原料之一并且可能会继续如此煤r