There are several options for converting our coal, and some agricultural and forestry products and wastes into liquid fuel. One avenue we've detailed is the transformation of coal into methanol, which is a liquid fuel of high utility in it's own right, and can, through at least one process being commercialized, be itself further processed into gasoline.
Another approach is to convert coal directly into ethanol, a process which should require less energy than the combination of inefficient agricultural and industrial procedures needed to grow and harvest suitable crops, such as corn, and then process those crops, via fermentation and distillation, into ethanol - an energy-intensive industrial process most usually, in commercial practice, driven by electricity from coal-fired power plants.
Some argument can be made for ethanol being preferable to methanol as a liquid fuel, if we discount the documented convertibility of methanol both to gasoline and the other versatile liquid fuel, di-methyl ether (DME), a good substitute for petroleum-based diesel. Ethanol is not as toxic as methanol, and has, it seems, more energy "density" - although that might conflict with report we've earlier made. We'll attempt to document more thoroughly and clarify. But, in any case, we have documented from multiple sources that ethanol, as made from agricultural produce, stores less energy than is needed to produce it.
Another argument, a major one, aside from it's energy input needs, and one we've made, against ethanol, is that it would consume crops, and use cropland, that would better serve us if used for food.
Not necessarily. It turns out that ethanol, too, can be synthesized from coal, as in work being performed at Louisiana State University.
And, keep in mind that ethanol, from agricultural sources, is already being added to some available commercial gasoline, and being sold as "E85", etc. It is already somewhat compatible with our current auto engines and fuel-delivery systems.
Some excerpts from the enclosed link:
"James Spivey, McLaurin Shivers professor of chemical engineering at LSU, and Challa Kumar, group leader of nanofabrication at LSU’s Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices, or CAMD, are working diligently with partners from across the nation to make ethanol fuel an efficient reality."
"Together with Clemson University and Oak Ridge National Laboratories, the researchers received $2.9 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, or DOE, and its cost-sharing partner, Conoco-Phillips, the third-largest integrated energy company in the nation."
"Together with Clemson University and Oak Ridge National Laboratories, the researchers received $2.9 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, or DOE, and its cost-sharing partner, Conoco-Phillips, the third-largest integrated energy company in the nation."
(Note that Conoco-Phillips has proprietary coal conversion technology of their own, "E-Gas", and are active in China's coal-to-oil industrialization program. - JtM)
“We’re working with our project partners to produce ethanol from a coal-derived syngas, a mixture of primarily carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The United States has tremendous reserves of coal, but converting it to affordable, clean fuels is a challenge – one that we are addressing in this DOE-funded project,” said Spivey. “Because ethanol is a liquid, it can be more easily distributed to the end user than gaseous hydrogen. It can be converted into a hydrogen-rich gas at the point of use, such as a fuel cell. The net result is clean energy produced from a domestic resource.”
“We’re working with our project partners to produce ethanol from a coal-derived syngas, a mixture of primarily carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The United States has tremendous reserves of coal, but converting it to affordable, clean fuels is a challenge – one that we are addressing in this DOE-funded project,” said Spivey. “Because ethanol is a liquid, it can be more easily distributed to the end user than gaseous hydrogen. It can be converted into a hydrogen-rich gas at the point of use, such as a fuel cell. The net result is clean energy produced from a domestic resource.”