The world reserves of coal far exceed those of any other
fossil fuel and are sufficient to support a massive increase in
consumption well into the future. It is estimated that the
United States has 1.7 trillion tons of coal (I). Despite these
massive reserves, however, the amount of coal used in this
country has remained almost constant at about 600 million
tons per year for the past few years (2). One of the chief
reasons for this lack of coal utilization is the environmental
concern as to how much increase in atmospheric pollution will
take place by burning increased amounts of coal.