Fischer-Tropsch + Coal = The Solution To Gas Prices?
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Economy, ScienceYou know what they say. If you put enough pressure on a lump of coal, it’ll turn into a diamond. Apparently, pressure can also turn it into gas.
I’ve complained about the rising cost of gas before, and I always try to highlight solutions. A funny name (Fischer-Tropsch) could potentially present another one.
Brian Schweitzer, Montana’s governor, is pushing to use a technology that turns coal into oil for half the price of what we could buy it for on the open market.
HELENA, Montana (Reuters) – Montana’s governor wants to solve America’s rising energy costs using a technology discovered in Germany 80 years ago that converts coal into gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel.The Fischer-Tropsch technology, discovered by German researchers in 1923 and later used by the Nazis to convert coal into wartime fuels, was not economical as long as oil cost less than $30 a barrel.
But with U.S. crude oil now hitting more than double that price, Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s plan is getting more attention across the country and some analysts are taking him very seriously.
Montana is “sitting on more energy than they have in the Middle East,” Schweitzer told Reuters in an interview this week.
I say let’s do it. If we can make our own oil, then it “kills” two birds with one stone. Our dependence on foreign oil goes down and it curbs rising gas prices that hurt the middle class and the working poor.
So what about the environmental cost? Well, it seems like the timeframe is long enough (even if it’s half the estimated time) to bring hybrid technology into the mainstream.
The governor estimated the cost of producing a barrel of oil through the Fischer-Tropsch method at $32, and said that with its 120 billion tons of coal — a little less than a third of the U.S total — Montana could supply the entire United States with its aviation, gas and diesel fuel for 40 years without creating environmental damage.
It also seems like it’s a fairly clean burning alternative. This information about Fischer-Tropsch is from the EPA (pdf).
Fischer-Tropsch technology converts coal, natural gas, and low-value refinery products into a high-value, clean-burning fuel. The resultant fuel is colorless, odorless, and low in toxicity. In addition, it is virtually interchangeable with conventional diesel fuels and can be blended with diesel at any ratio with little to no modification. Fischer-Tropsch fuels offer important emissions benefits compared with diesel, reducing nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter.
So how much money will it take to get this going?
An entry level Fischer-Tropsch plant producing 22,000 barrels a day would cost about $1.5 billion, he said.
This is a “drop” in the bucket. Again, I say let’s do it.
In other news, people are getting angry at gas station attendants for the high gas prices, including a truly senseless killing in Alabama.
Incidents of consumer anger and gas-station crime have made headlines across the country, including the killing of a gas station owner in Alabama last week by a driver attempting to steal $52 worth of gas.Alvin Benefield, 42, surrendered Thursday and was being held on theft and manslaughter charges in the death of Husain “Tony” Caddi, police said.
Berhe recalled the particularly belligerent behavior of a man who ranted about the prices to everyone in the station.
“He walked in the store and said, ‘Do you work here? This is ridiculous,”’ Berhe said. “He was telling each and every customer. I was like, I don’t make the prices.”
Gas prices are about $2.56 in Texas, up from $1.80 at the same time last year.
This entry was posted on Friday, August 26th, 2005 and is filed under Economy, Science. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
August 30th, 2005 at 12:40 pm
What will we do with all the coke generated by the gasification of coal?
August 30th, 2005 at 2:23 pm
Sell it to the steel industry. “Seventy percent of steel production comes from iron made in blast furnaces using coal and coke.”
December 1st, 2005 at 12:40 am
[...] In fact, the information I read about this the first time I encountered it was so strong I wrote about Fischer-Tropsch almost immediately after reading the story. Very exciting stuff to find out. [...]
June 13th, 2006 at 3:07 pm
must be something to this process, if not, why do the oil co.s own and control so many coal co.s and mineral rights?
May 20th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Let’s get out of Iraq and take $200 billion and spend half on fisher Tropsch plants and the other half on nuclear power plants, solar and wind for new plug in hybrid cars. This would stimulate the economy and improve our security. A barrel of oil’s value would be cut to $50 a barrel and our demand for middleeast oil would dissappear. And if the gulf countries had half of the income they would have half as much money to funnel to extreme causes.
This would defeat inflation and stimulate our economy because our economy is completely dependant on cheap energy.
All of the manufacturers are raising prices because of more expensive raw materials because of the shipping charge increases and because many of the raws are currently fed by the price of crude oil.
In addition we could even double the size of this program if needed in a few years and tell the mideast oil producers that their product can’t be sold in the U.S. – it is time to wake up and put america first – the crown prince of saudia Arabia and the other OPEC producers would be powerless for the first time in decades. And we could get rid of the silly stragtegic petroleum reserve which currently gives us a 3 month supply of oil if OPEC stops production.
And When we buy our plug-in hybrid (in about a year) cars most consumers would pay the equivalent of $ 0.75-$1.00 for fuel and give our money to our local power company instead of countries that harbor terrorists.
This will turn are economy around much better than handing out checks to all americans so that we can buy cheap goods made in asia.
We can be energy independant right now – industry is too stupid to do this on their own – we have to do this now!
May 20th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Fischer-Tropsch can also be utilized in the production of cellulosic ethanol visa vi gasification, but the capital cost is astronomical.