Since the steam engine was fired by coal, the large mills did not need to be located by rivers, as had mills that used water-driven machines.

由于蒸汽机是靠燃煤来驱动的，因此一些大型棉纺织厂就不再像那些使用水力驱动机器的工厂一样，必须依河而建。

youdao

That is about the same as a large coal-fired power station.

这样的发电功率成本，和大型的燃煤发电厂差不多。

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In the right climate, both can be deployed at "utility scale," meaning that if it's breezy or sunny enough, a wind or solar farm can produce as much power as a coal-fired plant.

在气候适宜的时候，这两者都可以达到“实用水平”。也就是说，如果有风或者是太阳足够好的话，一个风能或者太阳能发电厂可以达到一个煤电厂的发电水平。

youdao

In fact, the U.S. hit a milestone in April of this year when government data showed that natural gas-fired power plants supplied as much electricity to the nation as coal-fired plants for the first time.

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Firstly, the utility companies are very likely to revert back to coal fired power generation from gas fired as soon as the gas prices get past coal prices on per BTU basis.

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Since power plants that burn natural gas emit about half the amount of the greenhouse gases as coal-fired power, some say that the gas drilling boom has helped the U.S. become the only major industrialized country to significantly reduce greenhouse emissions.

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