An excerpt follows.
We alerted you earlier to the potential for underground coal gasification, and the use of it's gaseous products for the manufacture of chemicals and liquid fuels. We also reminded you of early, 60's-70's, experimentation with it in WV's northern panhandle.
It makes much more sense, for a number of economic and environmental reasons, to, where coal is actually "mine-able", dig it out of the ground and process it into chemicals and liquid fuels at central manufacturing facilities.
The process of in-situ gasification is more complicated, and more expensive (for a number of reasons). However, where coal exists, but can't be mined - because of depth, seam thickness, geologic conditions, etc., - in-situ gasification might be a viable alternative.
It could help us achieve Thoreau's utopian, Walden Pond, objective of living well and comfortably through the full, efficient and economic, non-wasteful, use of all the resources the Good Lord saw fit to bless us with.
WV is blessed with many thin and deep coal seam resources.
PS: We believe we have noted for you BP's participation in several foreign coal-to-oil undertakings. Would you like us to attempt tracking down some appropriate contact info, so that you can follow up for more details?
June 28, 2007 - BP and Ergo Exergy sign Technical Alliance agreement on Underground Coal Gasification (press release)
BP International and Ergo Exergy Technologies, Inc. today announced that they have signed a technical alliance agreement to work cooperatively on underground coal gasification (UCG) technology – the in-situ conversion of coal deposits into fuels and other products.
UCG offers the potential to produce fuels and hydrocarbon feedstock from coal deposits which may otherwise be unrecoverable. By introducing a carefully controlled supply of air or oxygen through wells into a coal seam, the coal can be reacted in situ to produce mixtures of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane and other gases. These can be recovered to the surface through wells and used as fuel for power generation or as feedstock for the production of chemicals and other hydrocarbon products.
