Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use of 1978: Fuel Replacement
![handle is hein.journals/helr3 and id is 220 raw text is: THE POWERPLANT AND INDUSTRIAL FUEL
USE ACT OF 1978: FUEL REPLACEMENT
Daryl Robertson
In the face of increasing imports of foreign petroleum and anticipated
shortfalls of the domestic supply of natural gas, Congress recently
enacted the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978 (PIFUA).'
PIFUA, part of the National Energy Act, is designed to increase the use
of coal and other alternate fuels as primary energy sources for existing
and new electric powerplants and major fuel-burning installations, 2
while assuring full compliance with applicable state and federal environ-
mental requirements. The legislation is also designed to conserve natural
gas and petroleum for uses where no economic substitutes exist.
This article will first briefly describe the current energy crisis, survey
past efforts to encourage coal use by utilities and industry, and discuss the
problems created by these efforts. Next, the provisions of PIFUA will be
described and summarized. Finally, the conclusion will explore some of
the major problems and criticisms left unanswered by the Act.
I. THE ENERGY CRISIS AND COAL
Americans face a decline in the domestic energy resources-
petroleum and natural gas-upon which they primarily rely for heat and
power.3 As of 1976, petroleum and natural gas satisfied approximately
seventy-five percent of the energy needs of the United States,4 but coal,
the nation's most abundant fossil-fuel resource,- supplied only about
I B.A. 1976, Duke Univ.; Candidate for J.D. 1979, Harvard Law School.
1. Pub. L. No. 95-620, 92 Stat. 3289 (1978).
2. Id. § 102(a)(1), 92 Stat. 3291 (to be codified in 42 U.S.C. § 8301(a)(1)).
3. Total recoverable reserves in the U.S. of petroleum and natural gas declined in
1976. See American Gas Association, Estimated Total Proved Reserves of Natural Gas in
the U.S., [1977] ENERGY USERS REP. (BNA) (Ref. File) 81:0601; American Petroleum
Institute, Proved Crude Oil Reserves, id. at 81:0621. Total recoverable petroleum reserves
also declined in 1975. Id. The percentage of U.S. oil demand satisfied by imported petroleum
has increased to 46% as of 1977. Energy Consumption and Oil Imports, FEA Midyear
Review for 1976, id. at 81:0303. 'Domestic production of natural gas peaked in 1973 at 22.5
trillion cubic feet; in 1975, production was around 20 triltion cubic feet. In 1975, domestic
crude oil production was 8.4 million barrels per day, 10% less than was produced prior to the
1972 embargo. ENERGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION, I A NATIONAL
PLAN FOR ENERGY RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT & DEMONSTRATION: CREATING ENERGY
CHOICES FOR THE FUTURE 91 (1976) [hereinafter cited as NATIONAL PLAN].
4. See Federal Energy Administration, U.S. Energy Consumption By Fuel, Economic
Sector and Price, (1977] ENERGY USERS REP. (BNA) (Ref. File) 81:0253 [hereinafter cited as
U.S. Consumption].
5. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated that approximately four trillion tons of coal](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/helr3&div=12&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use of 1978: Fuel Replacement
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