http://www.eri.ucr.edu/ISAFXVCD/ISAFXVAF/DCBAFC.pdf
We recently documented West Virginia University's achievements in the liquefaction of coal into alcohols.
Given China's close tracking, as we've many times documented, of WVU's coal conversion technology developments, it is unsurprising they, too, as documented herein, have been developing parallel technology to convert coal into alcohols that are useful both as liquid fuels, themselves, and as raw materials for gasoline synthesis and plastics manufacturing.
We present herein only some brief excerpts. There is information in the full report that we think deserves fuller review.
One table, in particular, compares the various aspects of making liquid fuels from coal via the indirect, direct and alcohol synthesis methods. It is an interesting exposition, but of most interest to us was the revelation that a factory, apparently unheralded by the coal industry press, has been making alcohol from coal in Shanxi province for more than ten years.
The excerpts:
"The Development of Coal-Based Alcohol and Ether Fuel in China
Ke-Chang Xie; Key Laboratory of Coal Science; PRC; Taiywan University of Technology
Based on the analysis, it is indicated that in the first 30 years of the 21st Century alcohol and ether made from coal are most probably the alternative fuel China needs. ... China should consider coal-based alcohol and ether alternative fuel as soon as possible.
China is scarce of oil and gas, but rich relatively in Coal resource. So depending on Coal to develop alternative fuel is the most reliable way to solve the problem."
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Again, the full document contains a worthwhile amount of more concrete information. Our purpose in presenting this report is simply to further document that coal-to-liquid fuel processes do exist, are being successfully operated elsewhere in the world, and are undergoing continuous improvement.
