FUELING OUR FUTURE

High gasoline prices and concern about energy security are driving entrepreneurs to explore various ways to produce transportation fuels, says H. Sterling Burnett, senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis.

For example, though rarely discussed, there is a well-developed process to turn coal into oil:
 China is already bringing coal-to-oil plants online, with plans to produce as much as a million barrels of oil a day from coal by 2020.
 Commercial coal-to-oil plants have not been built in the United States because they require more long-term capital investment than conventional oil.
 But the Energy Department has estimated that coal-to-liquids can compete if the price of conventional oil is above $30 per barrel.
 Based on predictions that the era of cheap oil is over, a consortium of companies have begun planning to produce oil from coal.

In addition, the process produces natural gas that can be used for heating or electric power generation and it removes more than 30 percent of the pollutants released when coal is burned to produce electricity.

There are other possibilities as well:  Extracting oil from shale can be profitable as long as the price of conventional oil is above $30 per barrel.
 There are vast untapped conventional oil reserves under the crust of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
 There is four times as much oil under the OCS as all other current U.S. oil reserves.
 And the ANWR coast contains 6 billion to 16 billion barrels of economically recoverable oil at $20 a barrel -- up to double that at $40 a barrel.

Gosh, didn’t we say the same thing about shale and coal circa 1973?

Strangely, when the government deregulated the price of oil, and even had a few tax credits for exploration, we suddenly had lots of the stuff.

This proves the point — that when the market hits a certain point, alternatives tend to make themselves available. Lefties know that, since they want to make gasoline $6 per gallon to prompt such alternatives. However, they fail to understand that in their scheme, the “extra” $3 would go to the government instead of the producers of energy.

Actually, there are probably a dozen different streams of converting substances to liquid fuel from non-traditional sources.

One is Thermal Depolymerization, which by a combination of heat and pressure, converts just about any organic material into kerogen, a form of crude oil, only without the sand and grit of crude oil. Another is the building up of longer-chain hydrocarbons from methane (natural gas) to a liquid through a Fischer-Tropsch technology. It is possible to make a completely sulfur-free Diesel fuel by this process. Another is simply using Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) directly as a motor fuel, but this requires some prodigiously large fuel tanks, as the energy density of natural gas is relatively low per volume. Otherwise, the vehicle range is limited to commuter distances. CNG does have some distinctive advantages, in that it is absolutely the cleanest-burning fuel now available.

We can harvest methane from the ocean floor, as Methane Hydrate, a densely compact way of holding methane, but one that is highly dependent on temperture conditions. On the ocean floor, this substance exists as an amorphous solid, as long as the temperature does not get much above 40 degrees Fahrenheit. And at the depths greater than about 500 meters, temperature of ALL water is about 38 degrees F.

This substance is continuously renewing, as organic substances that sink to the ocean floor undergo decomposition. The end product, methane, is trapped in a matrix with water under the conditions of temperature and pressure, and remains stable.

If we harvest the oceans for this substance, we shall NEVER run out of methane.

And of course, there are several different means to produce biofuels, one by fermentation of sugars to produce ethanol, or by using CO2 and carefully managed algae cultures to produce a sort of proto-kerogen. Even such exotic materials as ammonia may be used as a fuel, as it burns readily in the presence of oxygen, and has the advantage of great portability, as it liquifies easily under pressure. Catching a whiff from a leak, however, is an experience not easily forgotten. Human metabolism will never adapt to that.

when the market hits a certain point, alternatives tend to make themselves available. Lefties know that, since they want to make gasoline $6 per gallon to prompt such alternatives.

However, they fail to understand that in their scheme, the “extra” $3 would go to the government instead of the producers of energy.

Correct. If market had really driven to $6/gal, that would mean private investment for alternatives or different ways to drive the price down and gain market share and profit margin. This may involve finding different ways to refine, exploration for another cheap mother lode, or discovering different types of fuel supplies all together (like coal to liquid fuel conversion).

Markets drive innovation. Taxation hinders progress and makes people mad.

It appears that pushing the negative side of just about everything American is the latest theme from our congress. It would be nice if just for ounce they would say this oil from coal thing will work. Then put up the money for a pilot plant, give it a number one priority and get the job done. Right now nothing gets pushed HARD, nothing gets done but whining about nothing getting done to solve anything. Our country put up an aircraft plant in 90 days at the start of WE2, because it was necessary to save our collective butts. What the he— happened to us?

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