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In fact, it’s been around for some time and is already being used in some forms around the world.
In the Did You Know department, the technology of producing a liquid fuel from coal or natural gas came early in the Fischer-Tropsch process that was developed by German researchers Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch in 1923 and used by Germany and Japan during World War II to produce alternative fuels. For instance, in 1944, Germany produced 6.5 million tons, or 124,000 barrels a day.
The United States Air Force is already experimenting with liquid fuel made from coal or natural gas. The USAF has carried out tests flying a B-52 Stratofortress with a coal-based fuel. This could be how our military and commercial planes of the future will operate.
There is a current bill in Congress that would extend tax credits for alternative fuels, pushing technology to produce jet fuel for the equivalent of $40 a barrel, which is well below current oil prices.
And coal-to-liquid (CTL) fuel is already in use elsewhere, like South Africa, where it meets 30 percent of transportation fuel needs. This also fits America’s fuel needs. Major coal mining companies in the United States have more coal reserves than Saudi Arabia has oil. It is estimated America has a 250-year supply of coal and we need to find more ways to develop fuels derived from carbon.
CTL transportation fuels are substantially cleaner-burning than conventional fuels. That is also said to be the case for the new electrical plants that will come on-line, following the lead of FutureGen.
In October, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer and a consortium of energy and technology companies announced the state will be home to one of America’s first CTL energy plants. The $1 billion Bull Mountain plant is slated to produce 22,000 barrels per day of diesel fuel and 300 megawatts of electricity — enough to power 240,000 homes within six years.
China has already bought into this conversion. It is reported China plants are projected capable of producing 60,000 barrels of CTL fuel per day while American plants may produce only 40,000 barrels of CTL fuel per day, with a typical plant using 8.5 million tons of coal per year.
No matter where you turn, the world race for energy will remain hot and heavy. The good news here is we have lots of coal in the U.S.
