Air Emission Control Research Articles

Agriculture and Energy Use in the Year 2000: Discussion from a Natural Resource Perspective

Electricity development will have the greatest impact on the food sector, which accounts for a third of the power consumed in the U.S. Growth in power demand by 2000 will require two or three times the present coal production and will disturb 3 to 5 million acres of land. Although reclamation laws will restore much of the land, the distribution of disturbed land will be determined by which energy development policies are adopted. The social, economic, and resource effects of alternative policies on specific areas can be analyzed by locational impact modeling. Locational models can analyze the impact on water quality and underground hydrology as mining and power development compete against agricultural and aquatic activities. Teknekron, Inc. scenarios of air quality and emission controls indicate that stricter standards will be needed to accommodate an increase in coal-fired power plants.