Coal to Liquids as an alternative liquid energy source.
Oil Prices have been at a premium for the past few years and have gone up significantly in the past 15 years. In turn, there has been an increased demand for other sources of liquid fuel to power our cars, boats, and planes. For years, scientists and engineers have been working hand in hand to develop new sources. There is an interesting process that is converting coal into liquid energy, which could solve the above problem. In the past thirty years there has been much research associated with converting coal into liquid energy. Using a patented Fischer-Tropsch method of liquefying coal, this fuel is totally interchangeable with other petroleum fuels. It has been estimated that the U.S. has 250 years of coal reserves. With that said, one still must be skeptical in how cost efficient, practical and safe this process is. There are a few questions that I plan on addressing in my project. Is this process practical in a cost-benefit type analysis? Could this potentially be one of our solutions to our shortage on oil? How efficient and is this going to be significantly cheaper than other fuels? How clean does coal-to-liquid fuel burn? Are there greenhouse gases that are emitted in the process, and how can they be managed to minimize the impact? If anyone has any further scepticisms about Coal-to-Liquids, let me know and I will do my best to research it and include it in my project.
I Introduction to CTL and history of Fischer Tropsch process
II The CTL process.
III The cost and feasabiliy of CTL production
IV Current Plants and the development of future plants
V The positives of CTL
VI The Negatives of CTL
VII The Government and their involvement with CTL as an alternative energy source.
VIII Conclusions on the CTL Process
1) This is about the first CTL plant coming to the United States. It involves renntech, one of my other sources, and the CTL plant in East Dubuque, Iowa.
2)This source talks about CTL and the company Syntroleum. They are trying to make a merger with a Chinese company, that will have a CTL plant in China.
3)A basic summary of coal and the coal-to-liquids process. It is from the World Coal Institute.
4)CTL Current event news log. Green Car Congress. It explains a lot of the happenings in Washington D.C. in support of CTL development and production.
5)Talks overall about a CTL plant that is going to be put in Adams County Mississippi. Good article, it’s local to Adams County. This is from The Natchez Democrat.
6)Fairly unbiased and very informative. The Nieman Foundation at Harvard University presents an article about CTL, politics behind it, and the role it will play in the 2008 election.
Coal to liquids—silver bullet or coal-state pork?
7) Grassroots Coalition in support of CTL. Talks about positives of the product, and what we need to do in congress to get CTL in production.
8)This is a large list of documents dating back from the 1920’s that have to do with the Fischer Tropsch process. This is the process that makes CTL possible.
9)This company is doing research and development to put CTL plants in the U.S. and beyond. They already have on plant. This gives a good description of the current plants, and the potential areas for plants. http://www.rentechinc.com/rentech-projects.htm 10) Talks about the company Syntroleum and their plans for a plant in Australia. http://peakenergy.blogspot.com/2005/08/underground-coal-gasification-coal-to.html Government Issued and Accredited Associations list.
Department of Energy-Strategic to Unconventional Fuels: Coal to Liquids fact sheet. Saved on adobe acrobat.
Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition makes the case that CTL is bad for the environment and the economy.
Very good report by the National Mining Association. Complete with graphs, charts, and diagrams that help explain CTL and the current and future plants.
“Why Liquid Coal is Not a Viable Option to Move America Beyond Oil”
This article talks about the negatives of CTL. Pollution, coal mine injury, and Global Warming problems. Presented by Natural Resources Defense Council
U.S. Department of Energy: Energy Effeciency and Renewable Energy
This article talks about the process, distribution, benefits, and research development having to do with CTL.
1)A New Route To Liquid Fuels With Coal
By: S.L. Meisel
Talks about the process of CTL and what the pros and cons of the process are. Article is a bit outdated, but still very useful
2)Coal Research (III): Liquefaction Has Far to Go
By: Allen L. Hammond
This article makes the argument, that actually using CTL is far away, but this article was written in the 1980’s. Still a good source.
3)Liquid Fuels from Coal: From R&D to Industry.
By: L.E. Swabb Jr.
Good Source that talks about businesses developing ways to use CTL and the industry that surrounds it.
4)Recent Progress in the Direct Liquefaction of Coal
By: Robert E. Lumpkin
Reports of a test done on Coal Liquefaction.
5)Coal Hydrogenation and Environmental Health
Talks about the negatives of liquefying coal and its detrimental affect on the earth.
1)Power Point in Support for CTL courtesy of West Virginia University.
2)Video on CTL Mountain Top Removal Mining. Talks about conferences with Senators Rayhall and Senator Rockefeller. Shows Mountain Top Removal Mining and protestors of CTL.
Coal-to-Liquids conference, protest in West Virginia
3) Interview with my Dad or one of his co-workers who work in the alternative fuel industry. I have yet to interview-plan on doing it next week.
4)Image Fischer Tropsch CTL pilot plant
5)Image that has history and projection of Fuel use.