7-
(e) Dual-firing
When the sharp increase in fuel oil prices occurred
during the energy crisis, many countries suddenly realised
that a total dependence on fuel oil was very risky and
expensive. For this reason, many countries are
diversifying from dependence on one type of fuel by
introducing and developing different types of energy
sources within their own capabilities. These include the
further development of potential hydro power and the
installation of more nuclear power plants.
However, whilst a number of countries appear to be
diversifying successfully, many others, and in particular
the developing countries, are having considerable
difficulty in doing so. Nuclear power, which once was
the hope of the future, has turned out to be so expensive
that it is often outside the financial capability of a
developing country. Furthermore hydro power has proved
to be possible only in a small number of countries in
which the geographical situation permits such development.
Thus in many countries, the only means of diversifying
from total dependence on fuel oil is to utilise a
substantial amount of coal for electricity production.
The total proven coal reserves in the world are
sufficient for electricity generation for many hundreds of
years and whilst many may not be ideally suited for early
development because of conservationist pressures, environmental factors or pure economic reasons the current
high price of fuel relative to coal prices suggests that it
would generally be favourable to diversify into coal-fired
generation.
/On