We have thoroughly documented that multiple and various technologies exist which would enable the United States to attain a level of liquid fuel self-sufficiency by converting her abundant coal into liquid fuels. The Fischer-Tropsch method of coal-to-liquid conversion seems to be the one the public at large is most aware of, but we have documented for you other processes of coal conversion, including at least two originating in the United States: The (Lewis) Karrick Process, developed by the US Bureau of Mines, and the West Virginia Process invented by WVU.
But, it is one of the lesser-known coal-to-liquid conversion technologies, developed many years ago in Europe, which was, like Sabatier's technology for recycling Carbon Dioxide into fuel, given the distinction of being awarded what is, perhaps, the world's most prestigious acknowledgement of scientific achievement, the Nobel Prize.
Like much, though, about the entire subject of converting coal into liquid fuels, the award was obscured and hidden; disguised by the way in which it was made and by how it was labeled.
In 1931, the Nobel Committee awarded their Prize, in Chemistry, to joint recipients who independently developed similar technologies referred to, by the Committee, generically, as "High Pressure Techniques".
It is only in the actual Presentation Speech, made by one "Professor W. Palmar, Member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences", on December 10, 1931, that what the Prize was actually being awarded for becomes clear.
Excerpts from that speech follow. Make very special note of the second paragraph. Additional comment follows:
"The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1931
Presentation Speech
Your Majesty, Your Royal Highnesses, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Under Alfred Nobel's will, the Nobel Prizes are to be awarded to those who have been of the greatest benefit to mankind and, particularly in respect of the Prize for Chemistry, it is stipulated that this shall go to the person who has made the most important discovery or improvement in chemistry.
The purpose of this work was to resolve a problem which, in importance, can be compared with the nitrogen problem, namely the manufacture of oils and liquid fuels from solid coal, such as pit coal and brown coal (lignite) - which is also known as liquefaction of coal. The products mentioned, which consist, in various proportions, of carbon and hydrogen and which are therefore referred to as hydrocarbons, were considered necessary to modern living, with vehicles and ships being run on petrol and other liquid fuels. Since the natural stocks of petroleum are fairly restricted, we would sooner or later be faced with the need to restrict the use of oil for the purpose mentioned or even to stop using it altogether, unless methods were available whereby these oil products could be artificially made from other crude materials at an acceptable price.
According to the composition of the coal, it is possible in this way to extract 50 to 70% of the carbon contained in the raw material in the form of oils, of which benzine represents about one-third, the remainder comprising diesel oil, fuel oil, and asphalt, together with carbolic acid and other phenols.
At the outset, Bergius worked without catalysts. Since the commencement of collaboration between him and I.G. - or "Industrial Giant" as these letters have come to be interpreted in America - catalysts have been used. This collaboration with I.G., who were able to make available their tremendous experience in the field of high-pressure technique and contact substances, certainly promoted the extremely important development which the liquefaction of coal by Bergius' methods then underwent. In the giant Leuna plant founded in 1926, near Merseburg in Saxony, the year 1930 saw the production of no less than 250,000 tons of benzine from brown coal, of the carbon content of which no less than 80% was utilized in the form of oils. In Germany, a large plant was also set up for processing the residues of oil distillation and tar oils. Steps have also been taken towards co-operation with the oil syndicates in America, where the high-pressure method is applied to a considerable degree, especially in order to convert not readily volatile hydrocarbons or crude oil into far more valuable benzine. The ease with which the hydrogen treatment under pressure can be adapted to the various problems of the petroleum industry is obviously of the utmost importance. As far as our country is concerned, the possibility of obtaining oils from timber by high-pressure processing is of particular importance.
General Director Bergius. You undertook to tackle a problem which, in its importance for humanity, can be compared with the solution of the nitrogen question. You have shown how, by the injection of hydrogen under pressure, pit coal, brown coal, and other carbon-bearing materials can be processed to liquid fuels which are considered indispensable in modern life for the propulsion of ships and vehicles. You have thereby obviated the danger which threatened of exhaustion of petroleum deposits, an event which must have happened sooner or later. In your work, you arrived at the high-pressure method quite independently. On the basis of your work, a powerful industry has already been formed.
By virtue of this, the Academy wishes to thank you and congratulate you, and requests you to receive the distinction from the hands of His Majesty the King."
First of all, let's make note of the fact that, even as early as 1931, several problems had, as we have tediously documented and pointed out to be possible, been solved by the technology of converting coal into liquid fuels: The petroleum shortage, recognized even then, was "obviated" by the ability to liquefy coal. Sustainability was addressed through the applicability of coal conversion technology to, as we have many times documented to be practical, renewable resources, as in: "The ease with which the (technology) can be adapted to the various problems of the petroleum industry is obviously of the utmost importance. As far as our country is concerned, the possibility of obtaining oils from timber by high-pressure processing is of particular importance."
That potential of sustainability, of course, is in addition to the Committee's earlier award of the Nobel to Paul Sabatier for demonstrating that Carbon Dioxide could be recycled into methane.
In sum, it is clear: As early as 1931, the pending "oil crisis" and the issue of atmospheric Carbon Dioxide had both been, as confirmed by the unimpeachable Nobel Committee, solved. Coal could be converted into liquid fuels, and CO2 could be recycled.
Why, almost a century later, is that news not broadly known? And, why, now, are we not doing something about it all?
