As threatened, we are following up on our submissions concerning not only the hard-but-hidden truth that our abundant domestic coal can be converted into the wide variety of liquid fuels and industrial chemicals we desperately need; but, that the primary co-product of our coal use industries, Carbon Dioxide, can itself be efficiently captured and converted into the same products.
We've cited a number of US sources attesting to the potential for CO2 commercial utilization. Herein is one from Japan, where it is posited that a CO2 collection and conversion system could be profitably installed as an integral component of a coal-fired power generation plant.
The excerpt:
"DME Fuel Synthesized from CO2 in Power Plant Emissions. Kansai Electric Power Co., has successfully synthesized dimethyl ether (DME) from carbon dioxide (CO2) gases contained in emissions from a pilot plant at the Nanko Power Station in Osaka, Japan, utilizing the technology developed jointly with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. This was the first successful synthesis of DME from CO2 at plant in actual operation in Japan.
DME, which is human-friendly and thus used as an aerosol propellant in spray cans for cosmetics or alike, is recently drawing attention as a new clean energy source to replace LPG and diesel oil. The company has been researching this alternative fuel as a promising option to use CO2 effectively.
The conventional method to synthesize DME is first to generate methanol from natural gas and then to separate water from the methanol. On the other hand, the newly developed method is to use CO2 contained in the emissions from thermal power plants and to cause chemical reactions between CO2 and hydrogen, thereby synthesizing DME directly. The company said that the simplified synthesis process enables the production facility to be smaller in the future."
DME, which is human-friendly and thus used as an aerosol propellant in spray cans for cosmetics or alike, is recently drawing attention as a new clean energy source to replace LPG and diesel oil. The company has been researching this alternative fuel as a promising option to use CO2 effectively.
The conventional method to synthesize DME is first to generate methanol from natural gas and then to separate water from the methanol. On the other hand, the newly developed method is to use CO2 contained in the emissions from thermal power plants and to cause chemical reactions between CO2 and hydrogen, thereby synthesizing DME directly. The company said that the simplified synthesis process enables the production facility to be smaller in the future."
As a concept, it beats spending all the money to collect the CO2 from the stack gas, just to pump it all down a geologic sequestration rat hole, doesn't it?
It definitely beats the heck our of taxing our coal-use industries out of existence with Cap&Trade shell games.