Some excerpts:
"It's (Coal To Liquid) definitely not new, but people are realizing that we're short on oil, and this is a method that will work," says INL (Idaho National Laboratory) engineer Rick Wood. "For energy security reasons, we want to look to other resources."
"The combination of biomass with coal takes advantage of the carbon credits given to biomass with the economies of abundant coal in the U.S. (as we've been suggesting)," says INL engineer Richard Boardman, who worked with Wood and engineer Anastasia Gribik on the project. "Many say we should kill new coal projects, but I believe we should do more to understand improved methods to use this abundant natural resource without disregarding the environment."
"Although today's low gas prices may have temporarily weakened the financial incentive for synthetic fuel production, Wood says these projects are important for the U.S. to assert its energy independence. "From an energy security standpoint, they make as much sense as they ever have," he says. "We have to get rid of our dependence on the Middle East for our energy.""