The amount of coal used to make electricity in U.S. hits 33-year low [View all]

[kentuck]

http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/article154060059.html#storylink=hpdigest

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The amount of coal that utilities used to generate electricity last year was the lowest in more than 30 years, according to a federal report released Friday.

The report was about the methods used to transport coal, but the information on how much coal utilities burned underscored the challenges facing the industry in Kentucky — where jobs and production have plummeted — and elsewhere.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that the nation’s power sector consumed 677 million short tons of coal in 2016. That was the lowest amount since 1984.

Most of the coal mined in Kentucky goes to produce electricity.

Cheap, abundant natural gas and, to a lesser extent, renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power have eaten into coal’s share of power generation.

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