289 



Wliereas it had been possible in the 1920's and 1930's to open a mine 

 with a minimum of capital equipment, by the 1950's the required in- 

 vestment had about doubled.^ 



One measure of the pressure on the industry (reflecting the sag^ng 

 markets and competition for them) is the number of producing mmes. 

 This figure reached a peak of 9,331 in 1923 ; declined to a low of 

 5,427 in 1932 ; reached another peak of 9,427 in 1950 ; and declined to 

 6,130 in 1954. 



Another measure is afforded by the pressure of competing forms of 

 thermal energj'. Just as coal replaced wood as a source of thermal 

 energ}', so it has encountered increasing challenge from petroleum 

 fuels, natural gas, and — more recently — atomic power. In 1900, nearly 

 90 percent of all energy requirements was supplied by coal, divided 

 roughly one-fourth anthracite, three-fourths bituminous. On the eve 

 of World War II, natural gas and petroleum had made significant 

 inroads, and coal supplied only 50 percent of total energy require- 

 ments. There was a further postwar decline, until, by 1955 coal pro- 

 vided less than one-third of total energy requirements. (See table). 



In all major categories of direct consumption of fuel energy, 

 changes since 1900 have occurred at the expense of coal. There are 

 three of these categories : industrial power, household and commercial 

 spcace-heating, and transportation. In 1900, coal provided almost all 

 thermal energy for space-heating, for railroad transportation, and for 

 industrial (steam and steam-electric) power. By 1947, petroleum (fuel 

 oil) had replaced coal in more than half of all space-heating; there- 

 after, natural gas became a significant additional competitor.^ Between 

 1940 and 1955, the quantity of diesel oil consumed by railroads rose 

 from 1.8 million barrels to 80 million barrels.* 



Total primary energy in- 

 puts: 



1947 3.7 44.0 13.6 34.3 4.4 100 



1955 1.5 27.8 23.1 43.9 3.7 100 



1965 .6 22.4 30.0 43.1 3.9 100 



« Adapted from: Resources for the Future, Inc. U.S. Energy Policies: an agenda for research. A Resources for the Future 

 staff report. (Baltimore, Resources for the Future, Inc., distributed by the Johns Hopkins Press, 1968, pp. 10-11.) 



- According to the prepared statement of Harry LeVIers, chairman of the Committee on 

 research, National Coal As.sociation, before the Special Subcommittee on Coal Research, 

 Mar. 26, 1957, "A large share of the existing coal mine properties were built and are cap- 

 italized on the basis of a cost ranging from $3 to $7 or $8 per ton of annual capacity. In 

 today's markets the cost of constructing new or replacing depreciated plants, with their 

 highly mechanized natures, is more nearly $10 to $15 per ton of annual capacity." (U.S. 

 Congress. House. Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. "Coal Hearings before the 

 Special Subcommittee on Coal Research of the * • * on the Establishment of a Research 

 and development program for the Coal Industry." Pt. 1, Feb. 13, 1957, at Ebensberg, Pa., 

 Feb. 15, 1967, at Abingdon. Va., Feb. 22, 1957, at Wilkes-Barre, Pa.; Pt. 2 Mar 9 1957 

 at Henryetta, Okla., Mar. 11, 1,957, at Pueblo, Colo., March 26, 1957, at Washington, D.C.', 

 85th Cong., iirst sess., serial No. 3- (Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office. 1957), 

 p. 545.) 



3 According to the Resources for the Future study, "Energy in the American Economy, 

 lS50-197i5," "In 1955, the amount of energy inherent in the 2.753 billion cubic feet of 

 natural gas used in the residential and commercial sector was the equivalent of 109 mil- 

 lion tons of bituminous coal. Household use amounted to 2,124 billion cubic feet, of which 

 it has been estimated that some 1,375 billion cubic feet were consumed for space heat- 

 ing • ♦ •." (Sam H. Schurr and Bruce C. Netschert et al., "Energy in the American 

 Economy, 1850-1975, economic study of its history and prospects" (Baltimore, pub- 

 lished for Resources for the Future, Inc., by the Johns Hopkins Press, 1960, p. 134 ) 



*Ibid., p. 121. 



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