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OECD Coal Demand in the 1980s
Published in David Hawdon, The Energy Crisis, 2017
The immediate potential for fuel switching lies in the energy-intensive industries that require bulk heat or a combination of heat and power. Coal use is particularly favoured in the cement industry where ash and sulphur become part of the product, and possibly at paper mills where the configuration of wood-burning boilers is suitable for coal. In addition, great opportunities for bulk steam-raising exist in the aluminium, textiles, chemical, food and engineering industries. Coal could also provide energy to oil refineries through the direct use of coal (or coal-oil mixture) in the main boiler, and through gasified form for steam and process heat, replacing oil and gas-fired boilers.
Illuminating the streets, alleys, parks and suburbs of the American City: non-networked technologies, 1870-1920
Published in History and Technology, 2020
In the 1840s, after numerous trials, Canadian Abraham Gesner succeeded in developing a method to distill oil from bituminous coal and shale. Marketed as coal oil or kerosene, it provided advantages over other lighting fluids such as camphene (burning oil made from turpentine) in terms of safety and the quality of the light. Edwin L. Drake’s 1859 finding of major petroleum deposits in northwestern Pennsylvania soon overwhelmed the coal oil industry. This discovery led coal oil refiners to shift to petroleum distilling with the aim of maximizing the production of kerosene for illumination.21 The basic methods of distilling petroleum produced about 70 percent kerosene; 20 percent gasoline and naphtha; and 10 percent wax, grease, coke, asphalt, and other heavy residuum. These petroleum products became increasingly important in growing American industry.22 Kerosene sales and use expanded rapidly as a domestic lighting fluid because of its brightness, low cost, and relative safety compared to its competitors. It had great appeal for home lighting for those unconnected to the manufactured gas grid or unable to afford its high cost. Kerosene created a lighting revolution in the United States that provided substantially improved lighting for the middle and working classes.23 While widely consumed in residences and businesses, however, few municipalities appeared to use it for street lighting. Kerosene was cheaper than coal gas but still more expensive than the lighter hydrocarbons available from refineries.24