Coal to Liquids Offers Vast New Supplies of Liquid Fuels

Options for Coal to Liquids
Engineers are developing a wide range of options for producing advanced liquid fuels out of coal, gas, biomass, and other carbonaceous materials. If politicians and faux environmentalists will get out of the way, industry can supply society with ample supplies of liquid fuels for generations to come. Here is more on the coal liquefaction approach to coal to liquids (CTL):

In indirect liquefaction, coal is first gasified to form syngas, which is then converted to liquids by means of a catalyst and Fischer Tropsch (FT) chemistry. By contrast, direct liquefaction uses pressure, heat and a catalyst to crack the coal to make liquids. In a 2009 presentation to NETL, John Winslow and Ed Schmetz of Leonardo Technologies called direct liquefaction the “sledge hammer approach”, as opposed to the “engineered” approach of indirect liquefaction.

They also noted that direct liquefaction efficiency may be higher than indirect technology and that direct liquefaction may have a better carbon footprint than indirect technology.

By incorporating Accelergy’s TerraSync terrestrial sequestration system—a carbon capture and recycle process—the integrated project will achieve a thermal efficiency in excess of 60% and achieve a 100% reduction in CO2 emissions, according to Accelergy.

In the TerraSync process, produced CO2 passes through a photobioreactor that is growing concentrated algae. The algae is derived from locally available cyanobacteria, harvested from soils adjacent to the facility. Once the growth cycle is complete, the algae is blended with proprietary additives to produce a bio-fertilizer which is then distributed on crops, continuing to capture CO2 from the atmosphere as it grows.

...Currently the world’s largest producer and consumer of coal, China’s output for coal-to-liquids is expected to jump from 1.5 million tons in 2010 to 30 million tons in 2020, according to a recent report on the global CTL market from Market Avenue.

Accelergy says that its Direct Liquefaction process offers China a solution that produces less carbon dioxide than traditional petroleum refining and has a significantly higher overall efficiency than conventional CTL technologies. _GCC

The world's vast supplies of coal, natural gas, methane hydrates, kerogens, and bitumens -- together with current tight supplies of liquid hydrocarbon fuels -- suggests the need for better methods of converting unconventional hydrocarbons into advanced liquid fuels. With the addition of a virtually limitless and ongoing supply of biomass which can be converted to advanced liquid fuels, the planet is unlikely to face doom from liquid fuels shortages any time soon. Unless, of course, our political overlords decide otherwise. If so, a revolution may be in order.

Accelergy's CBTL Approach

Compare the sliver of hydrocarbon energy that has been consumed by human societies, with the vast resources which remain. Human societies need to get rid of the dieoff.org green lefty-Luddites who are pushing them toward energy starvation, and unleash the energy which will let them advance beyond primitive combustion energies to the more advanced energies which drive the universe.