Coal, Wind, Water, and Solar Energy (1900-Present)
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mise à jour avec succès 19 févr. 2018
Coal (Blue)
Solar (Green)
Water (Orange)
Wind (Purple)
Auteurs
Created bySarah Winters
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Les événements
The U.S. Bureau of Mines
was created to help
reduce accidents in mines.Mechanical coal-loading
equipment replaced hand
loading and increased
productivity.Coal was used by
many industries, homes,
steam-driven trains
and ships.Congress passed the
Federal Coal Mine Safety
Act of 1952, which
increased the number of
safety inspections in mines.Coal had become the major
fuel used by electric
utilities in the United States
to generate electricity.
(Today, it is still the leading
fuel for electricity generation.)Surface mines replaced
underground mines as the
leading source of coal
produced in the United States.
The importance of surface
mining has continued to grow
since that time.Kentucky became the
leading coal-producing state.The OPEC oil embargo focused
attention on the energy crisis and resulted in an
increase in demand for U.S. coal.Wyoming displaced
Kentucky as the leading
coal-producing state.The United States coal
production topped 1
billion tons a year.The United States sponsored
a $1 billion, 10-year
demonstration project to create
the world's first coal-based,
zero-emissions electricity and
hydrogen power plant.Congress passed the
Energy Policy Act of 2005,
promoting the use of coal
through clean coal technologies.Coal production set a record high
with 1.16 billion short tons. Wyoming
continued to dominate coal production
in the United States.The Reclamation Service was
formed to manage water
resources and was given the
authority to build hydropower
plants at dams.The Tennessee Valley
Authority (TVA) was
established to take
charge of the
hydroelectric
potential of the
Mississippi
River in the
Tennessee Valley.Boulder Dam (later renamed
the Hoover Dam) began
operating on the Colorado
River. The hydropower plant
produced up to 130,000
kilowatts of electricity.Almost one-third of the Nation's electricity came from hydropower.Conventional hydropower plant capacity nearly tripled in United States since 1940.The United States ranked
among the Top 4 countries
in the world for hydroelectric
generation, along with China,
Canada, and Brazil. These
countries generated 44%
of the world's electricity
from hydropower.Between 6% and 10% of U.S.
electricity comes from hydropowerEnergy was scarce during
World War II so passive solar
buildings became popular in
the United StatesA "solar furnace" was constructed in Odeillo, France; it featured an eight-story parabolic mirror.Dish/engine systems
convert the thermal
energy in solar
radiation to
mechanical
energy and then to
electrical energyFederal regulations that govern
the size of solar power plants
were modified to increase
maximum plant size to 80
megawatts from 30 megawatts.The first solar dish generator,
using a free-piston Stirling engine,
was tied to a utility grid.Windmills in California
pumped saltwater to
evaporate ponds. This
provided gold miners with salt.Most windmill companies
in the United States went
out of business.High oil prices increased
interest in other energy
sources, such as wind energy.Because of a need for more
electricity, California began using
a contract system that allowed
certain renewable and c
ogeneration facilities to lock into
rates that would make electricity
generated from renewable technologies.Many wind turbines were installed
in California in the early 1980s to
help meet growing electricity needsMany of the hastily installed
turbines of the early 1980s
were removed and later replaced
with more reliable models.The Energy Policy Act of 2005
strengthened incentives for
wind and other renewable
energy sources.Wind power provided 5%
of the renewable energy
used in the United States.
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