Energy costs vary greatly with energy source: coal @ $25.00/ton, gasoline @ a pump price of $2.00/gal, and electricity @ $0.1000/kWhr. Conventional practice is to put these on a common basis by expressing them in $ GJ-1. [ A gigajoule is approximately 106 (Btu).] For this purpose, assume gross heating values of 29 MJ kg-1 for coal and 37 GJ m-3 for gasoline.
(a) Rank order the three energy sources with respect to energy cost in $ GJ-1.
(b) Explain the large disparity in the numerical results pf Part (a). Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the three energy sources.