經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)

在加拿大，煤炭意味著商機(jī)

加拿大的煤炭工業(yè)就像一個(gè)看不見(jiàn)的巨人:它是巨大的，但我們甚至沒(méi)有注意到它。事實(shí)上，加拿大的煤礦開(kāi)采規(guī)模很大。煤炭是加拿大對(duì)日本最有價(jià)值的出口商品。它由世界上最大的陸地機(jī)械開(kāi)采，并由世界上最大的卡車(chē)運(yùn)輸。長(zhǎng)達(dá)125節(jié)車(chē)廂的運(yùn)煤列車(chē)每趟可以運(yùn)送超過(guò)1.3萬(wàn)噸的煤炭。阿爾伯塔省、薩斯喀徹溫省和新斯科舍省的大部分電力都來(lái)自煤炭，該行業(yè)在全國(guó)各地創(chuàng)造了就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)，每年直接為加拿大經(jīng)濟(jì)帶來(lái)50億美元的財(cái)富。能源、鋼鐵等等一個(gè)具有許多有用功能的資源煤在全世界的主要用途是發(fā)電。煤在發(fā)電廠燃燒，在巨大的鍋爐里產(chǎn)生蒸汽*。蒸汽驅(qū)動(dòng)渦輪，渦輪又反過(guò)來(lái)產(chǎn)生電力。煤炭的第二大用途是煉鋼。冶金煤或煉焦煤通過(guò)將煤加熱到700攝氏度轉(zhuǎn)化成焦炭*。這些極端的溫度將氣體分離出來(lái)，并將煤凈化成多孔的、巖石狀的焦炭，用于煉鋼過(guò)程。煤也是加熱和工業(yè)過(guò)程(如水泥制造、紙漿和造紙)的重要能源。新技術(shù)使煤可以加工成液體燃料，如汽油和柴油燃料，并成為化學(xué)工業(yè)的原料。直到最近，從原油和天然氣等石油產(chǎn)品中生產(chǎn)這些燃料和原料的成本更低。然而，隨著石油儲(chǔ)量的減少，原油和天然氣價(jià)格可能會(huì)上漲。煤炭可能成為經(jīng)濟(jì)上可行的替代能源。一個(gè)豐富的歷史擁有更加豐富的未來(lái)煤炭已經(jīng)存在了很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間，人們很容易認(rèn)為它是理所當(dāng)然的。畢竟，4000年前，威爾士的早期居民在他們的篝火中燃燒煤炭，而中國(guó)人在公元前100年*使用煤炭。公元前300年，希臘哲學(xué)家泰奧弗拉斯特斯(Theophrastus)描述了鐵匠如何燒一種黑色物質(zhì)，這種物質(zhì)與來(lái)自木頭的木炭截然不同。在北美，美國(guó)西南部的普韋布洛印第安人在13世紀(jì)用煤來(lái)燒制他們的陶罐和器皿。大約在同一時(shí)期，歐洲部分地區(qū)開(kāi)始開(kāi)采煤炭，盡管木材是首選燃料。直到17世紀(jì)，歐洲的森林被砍伐殆盡，這種情況才有所改觀。英國(guó)率先改用煤炭。在18世紀(jì)和19世紀(jì)，這個(gè)小島國(guó)生產(chǎn)了全世界80%的煤炭。由于煤是熱能和能源的首選燃料，煤的使用量顯著增加。這種增長(zhǎng)在1709年得到了巨大的推動(dòng)，當(dāng)時(shí)工業(yè)學(xué)會(huì)了如何用焦炭煉鋼。這種新的煉鋼工藝推動(dòng)了工業(yè)革命。1711年，英國(guó)康沃爾的一臺(tái)燃煤蒸汽機(jī)證明了，機(jī)器動(dòng)力比人力的生產(chǎn)力要高得多。這個(gè)小引擎成為了更大的煤驅(qū)動(dòng)蒸汽機(jī)的原型，這確實(shí)給工業(yè)帶來(lái)了革命性的變化。工廠如雨后春筍般出現(xiàn)，鐵路遍布大地，燃煤輪船很快統(tǒng)治了海洋。這種工業(yè)增長(zhǎng)產(chǎn)生了對(duì)鋼鐵的巨大需求。到1877年，煉鋼技術(shù)的進(jìn)步使焦炭成為煉鋼過(guò)程中的重要組成部分，這種作用一直延續(xù)至今。

ECONOMICS

COAL MEANS BUSINESS IN CANADA 

Canada’s coal industry is like an invisible giant: it’s huge, but we don’t even notice it. The fact is, coal mining exists in Canada on a massive scale. Coal is Canada’s single-most valuable export to Japan. It’s mined by the world’s largest land machines and hauled in some of the biggest trucks in the world. Coal trains of up to 125 cars in length can handle over 13,000 tonnes of coal per trip. The majority of the electricity in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia is generated from coal and the industry creates jobs across the country, directly enriching Canada’s economy by $5 billion every year.

ENERGY, STEEL AND MORE

ONE RESOURCE WITH MANY USEFUL FUNCTIONS

Coal’s major use worldwide is for the generation of electricity. Coal is burned in power plants to produce steam in huge boilers*. The steam drives turbines that in turn generate electric power.
Coal’s second-largest use is for the manufacture of steel. Metallurgical or coking coal is converted into coke* by heating the coal to 700 C. These extreme temperatures separate out the gases and purify the coal into the porous, rocklike coke that is used in the steelmaking process.
Coal is also an important source of energy for heating and industrial processes such as cement making and pulp and paper manufacturing. New technologies enable coal to be processed into liquid fuels—like gasoline and diesel fuel—and into feedstock* for chemical industries. Until recently, it had been more cost-efficient to produce these fuels and feedstock from petroleum products like crude oil and natural gas. However, as petroleum reserves shrink, crude oil and natural gas prices will likely increase. Coal may become the economically viable alternative. 

A RICH HISTORY

WITH AN EVEN RICHER FUTURE

 Coal has been around for so long, it’s easy to take it for granted.  After all, the early inhabitants of Wales burned coal in their campfires 4,000 years ago and the Chinese were using coal in 100 BCE*.
In 300 BCE, the Greek philosopher Theophrastus described how blacksmiths burned a black substance that was quite different from the charcoal that came from wood. Here in North America, the Pueblo Indians in the southwest United States used coal in the 1200s to fire their ceramic pots and utensils.
Around the same time, coal was being mined in parts of Europe, although wood was the preferred fuel. So it remained until European forests were depleted in the 1600s.

The switch to coal was led by Britain. During the 1700s and 1800s, this small island nation produced 80 per cent of the world’s coal. Because it was the fuel of choice for heat and energy, coal use expanded significantly. This growth was given a huge boost in 1709 when industry learned how to use coke to make steel. This new steelmaking process helped drive the Industrial Revolution.

In 1711, a coal-fired steam engine in Cornwall, England, proved that machine power was much more productive than human power. That small engine became the prototype for larger coaldriven steam engines that literally revolutionized industry. Factories sprang up, railways spread across the land and coal-fired steamships soon dominated the seas.
This industrial growth created a huge demand for steel. By1877, advances in steelmaking technologies made coke an essential component of the process, a role that it has maintained to this day.