关于煤炭talk about coal

快速的事实煤炭是世界上最丰富的化石燃料，广泛分布在世界各地。它是一种矿物，由数亿年前埋在地下的陆基植物的遗迹在巨大的热量和压力下形成(称为煤化作用)。 煤是由一系列复杂的材料组成的，不同矿床的质量差别很大，这取决于煤的来源的不同植被类型、施加在矿床上的温度和压力以及煤形成的时间长短。 煤是根据植物原物质转化成碳的程度来分类的，从最坚硬的无烟煤到烟煤、亚烟煤和褐煤，也称为褐煤。艾伯塔省开采的煤主要是烟煤或亚烟煤。 加拿大的煤炭探明储量位居世界前15位。据估计，阿尔伯塔省的沉积盆地拥有这些煤炭储量的70%，每年生产的煤炭约占全国目前开采量的一半。   据阿尔伯塔省能源资源保护委员会(ERCB)估计，阿尔伯塔省现有各类煤炭储量约336亿吨，足以满足未来几个世纪的需求。这些煤的能量是该省所有其他常规不可再生能源(包括石油、天然气和油砂)的两倍多。  今天，煤炭仍然是一种极其重要的燃料，因为它是全球最大的单一电力来源，帮助生产了全球70%以上的钢铁，并被水泥制造等其它工业过程所使用。

多年来，随着先进技术的应用，煤炭的加工和利用发生了巨大的变化，煤炭被定位为一种价值更高的能源。在未来，包括排放管理技术在内的技术将使煤炭继续在发电和提供化学原料等领域作出重大贡献。  过去的大约从公元前1000年起，煤就被用作燃料了。虽然煤在世界上大部分地区都很丰富，但直到工业革命才被广泛用作燃料。自19世纪以来，阿尔伯塔省共有1800多座煤矿。  19世纪60年代，莱斯桥附近开始了煤矿开采。1882年，亚历山大高尔特开始在莱思布里奇采煤，为加拿大太平洋铁路(CPR)提供物资。在第一次世界大战期间，多达10个矿井在莱斯布里奇地区作业，最后一个矿井在1957年关闭。埃德蒙顿的第一座煤矿于1883年开始运营。在世纪之交的时候，萨斯喀彻温省北部河谷的几座煤矿从厚煤层中开采煤炭。阿尔伯塔省最早的一些煤矿就在现在的班夫国家公园内。班夫镇(Banff town)以东几英里的班克黑德(Bankhead)社区开采煤炭，为CPR提供物资。煤矿开采很快转移到坎摩尔，那里有一个经营了80年的煤矿。阿尔伯塔省南部最拥挤的山口是一个煤矿中心，为CPR提供煤炭。在艾伯塔省中西部的“煤支”地区也设立了类似的职能。在辛顿以南的这个地区，开发了许多煤矿和城镇，为大干线和加拿大国家铁路提供煤炭。Nordegg和Grande Cache镇也被开发用于煤矿开采。  目前的阿尔伯塔省的大部分煤归阿尔伯塔省政府所有。然而，也有煤炭的完全所有权(由个人和公司拥有，或由联邦政府在国家公园或印度保护区持有)。在一个典型的年份里，阿尔伯塔省50%至60%的采煤量来自政府租赁，其余部分来自私人拥有的租赁。2009年，艾伯塔省生产了3100万吨可销售的煤炭。大约73%用于发电设施。其余的出口到亚洲——主要是日本和韩国。   艾伯塔省的煤矿开采大多数阿尔伯塔省的煤是露天开采或露天开采的。在露天开采中，当开采完成后，覆盖层被取代，从而创造出比原来的土地更适合农业或休闲用途的景观。露天开采只是对土地的临时使用，而持续的复垦项目仅在几年内就使土地恢复了全部生产力。露天矿开采多用于山区。当一个坑被放弃，最后的围垦进行。一些采用地表开采技术的煤矿由于深度太深而无法进行经济开采，因此采用了地下开采技术。  格兰德卡什的煤矿有地下作业。目前在艾伯塔省出现的最新技术是地下煤炭气化，通常被称为地下气化。煤炭地下气化是在未开采的煤层中进行的一种就地气化过程，它使用氧化剂注入，并通过从地表钻取的生产井将产品气体带到地表。产品气体可以用作化学原料或发电的燃料。该技术可应用于开采不经济的资源，也为某些资源提供了传统煤矿开采方法的替代方法。与传统的煤炭开采和气化相比，煤炭地下气化的环境足迹和社会影响更小。未来在世界范围内，煤炭作为一种能源的使用对许多发达国家和发展中国家的经济仍然至关重要。尤其是后者，随着工业化和城市化的扩展和国家能源需求的激增，随着洁净煤技术的成熟和经济上的商业化，煤炭似乎将继续保持其作为安全、可靠的能源来源的地位，特别是作为发电的能源。未来的能源系统将依赖于先进、清洁和高效的能源使用和供应技术。为了减少其对环境的影响，应继续发展和应用旨在将煤炭转变为更清洁能源的干净煤炭技术。有条件现金援助的进一步发展将导致若干技术选择，以消除或减少目前令人关注的大气排放。艾伯塔省创新——能源和环境解决方案与工业、大学、联邦和省级研究机构合作，致力于确定和采用最佳、最环保的技术，用于生产和使用艾伯塔省的煤炭和煤炭产品。有关艾伯塔省创新能源和环境解决方案的更多信息，请访问www.albertainnovates.ca/ Energy

Quick Facts 

Coal is the world’s most plentiful fossil fuel and is widely distributed around the world.  It is a mineral formed from the remains of land-based plants buried hundreds of millions of years ago then subjected to tremendous heat and pressure (referred to as coalification).
 
Coal consists of a complex range of materials and varies greatly in quality from deposit to deposit, depending on the varying types of vegetation from which the coal originated, the temperatures and pressures exerted on the deposit, and the length of time the coal has been forming.
 
Coal is classified according to the degree of transformation of the original plant material into carbon, ranging from anthracite – the hardest – down through bituminous, sub-bituminous and lignite, also known as brown coal.  The coal mined in Alberta is primarily bituminous or sub-bituminous.
 
Canada places within the top 15 in the world in total proven coal reserves.  Alberta’s sedimentary basins contain an estimated 70 per cent of these coal reserves and produce about half of the coal currently mined in the country each year.  
 
The Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) estimates about 33.6 billion tonnes of established reserves of all types of coal remain in Alberta, an amount that will meet today’s level of demand for several centuries.  This coal contains more than twice the energy of all the province’s other conventional non-renewable energy resources, including oil, natural gas and oil sands. 
 
Today, coal remains an enormously important fuel because it generates the largest single source of electricity worldwide, helps produce over 70 per cent of the world's steel, and is used by other industrial processes like cement manufacturing.  
 
 _{Over the years, with the use of advanced technology, there have been dramatic changes in the processing and uses of coal, thereby positioning coal as a higher value energy source.    In the future, technology, including emissions management technology, will allow coal to continue to provide a significant contribution in areas such as power generation and the provision of chemical feedstocks.}   

_{The Past} 

_{Coal has been used as a fuel since about 1000 B.C.  Although it is abundant in most parts of the world, it was not used extensively for fuel until the industrial revolution.    Over 1800 coal mines have operated in Alberta since the 1800s. 
 
In the 1860s coal mining began near the then future site of Lethbridge.  In 1882 Alexander Galt began mining coal in Lethbridge to supply the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR).    During World War I, up to 10 mines operated in the Lethbridge area, with the last mine closing in 1957.  The first mine in Edmonton began operating in 1883.    By the turn of the century several mines extracted coal from thick seams exposed in the North Saskatchewan River valley.   Some of the earliest mining in Alberta was within what is now Banff National Park.  Coal was mined at Bankhead, a community just a few miles east of the Banff town site, to supply the CPR.  Coal mining soon moved to Canmore where a coal mine operated for 80 years.  The Crowsnest Pass in southern Alberta was a coal mining centre that supplied coal to the CPR.} 

_{A similar role was established in west-central Alberta for an area known as the “Coal Branch”.  In this area south of Hinton, a number of mines and towns developed to supply coal to the Grand Trunk and Canadian National Railways.  The towns of Nordegg and Grande Cache were also developed for the purpose of coal mining.}   

_{The Present} 

_{The majority of the coal in Alberta is owned by the Alberta Crown.  However, there is also freehold ownership of coal (owned by private individuals and companies or held by the federal government in National Parks or Indian Reserves).  In a typical year, 50 to 60 per cent of Alberta’s mined coal is extracted from Crown leases, the rest from privately owned leases.   In 2009, Alberta produced 31 million tonnes of marketable coal.  Around 73 per cent is used in electricity generation facilities.  The remainder is exported to Asia - mainly to Japan and South Korea.}    

_{Coal Mining in Alberta}

 _{Most Alberta coal is produced by surface mining, either strip mining or open pit.  In strip mining, when extraction is completed, overburden is replaced creating a landscape which is often better suited to agricultural or recreational uses than the original land.  Strip mining is only a temporary use of land and continuing reclamation programs return the land to full productivity in only a few years.    Open pit mining is used most often in the mountainous areas.  When a pit is abandoned, final reclamation is carried out.    Some coal that is too deep for economic recovery using surface mining technology employs underground mining techniques. 
 
The coal mine at Grande Cache has underground operations.   Newest of techniques now emerging in Alberta is underground coal gasification often referred to as UCG.}

_{UCG is an in-situ gasification process carried out in non-mined coal seams using injection of oxidants, and bringing the product gas to surface through production wells drilled from the surface.  The product gas could be used as a chemical feedstock or as fuel for power generation.  The technique can be applied to resources that are otherwise not economical to extract and also offers an alternative to conventional coal mining methods for some resources.  Compared to traditional coal mining and gasification, UCG has less of an environmental footprint and social impact.} 

_{The Future} 

_{Worldwide, the use of coal as an energy source remains crucial to the economies of many developed and developing countries.  Particularly with the latter, as industrialization and urbanization spread and national energy requirements soar, and as clean coal technologies are proven and become economically commercial, coal looks set to retain its position as a secure, reliable source of energy, particularly for the generation of electricity.    The energy systems of tomorrow will rely on a mix of advanced, clean and efficient technologies for energy use and supply.  In order to reduce its environmental impact, development and application of Clean Coal Technologies (CCTs), designed to convert coal to a cleaner source of energy, should continue.     Further development of CCTs will lead to a number of technology options that will eliminate or reduce atmospheric emissions that currently are of concern.   Alberta Innovates - Energy and Environment Solutions works with industry, universities, and federal and provincial research agencies to pursue the goal of identifying and adopting the best, most environmentally sound technologies that may be employed to produce and use Alberta coal and coal products.  Additional information about Alberta Innovates - Energy and Environment Solutions is available at www.albertainnovates.ca/energy   For more information on the coal industry, please visit www.coal.ca or www.coalminer.cawww}