Texaco Recycles CO2 to Methanol & Methane

 
We have documented more than thoroughly that Carbon Dioxide, as arises in a small way, relative to natural sources of emission, such as volcanism and seasonal vegetative rot, from our varied and productive uses of Coal, is a valuable raw material resource, from which, like Coal, if we really wanted, we could synthesize liquid and gaseous hydrocarbon fuels.
 
We have also documented that such knowledge concerning Carbon Dioxide's true raw material potential is, in certain circles, well-known and well-understood; and, that such knowledge might be providing commercial motivation for the surreptitious support of taxation schemes like Cap & Trade; and, for the promotion of outright scams like the sequestration of CO2 in old oil fields, all at the expense of both the Coal industry and of the consumers of Coal-derived products, such as electricity.
 
As further testament to what we are convinced is Carbon Dioxide's true raw material potential, and, to what we perceive as the deliberate deceit surrounding that potential, we submit herein further evidence that the petroleum industry, and our own United States Government, know full well that CO2 can be productively and profitably reclaimed and recycled.

Gulf Oil H2 for Coal Hydrogenation & Liquefaction

  
We have been attempting, in the course of our reportage, to document the fact that Hydrogen, which is needed to hydrogenate the primarily carbonaceous compounds of which Coal is comprised, so that hydrocarbons, serviceable as direct replacements for those we now derive from petroleum, can be synthesized from Coal, can be generated as an integral function of a total Coal conversion process.
 
We have also been documenting the rather extraordinary achievements of Pittsburgh, PA's former Gulf Oil Corporation in the field of Coal conversion, to synthesize liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons, which, like those of our local Consolidation Coal Company, were extensive, thorough, spanned decades, and remain almost entirely unknown and unappreciated.
 
In any case, we do need Hydrogen to hydrogenate Coal, if we really do want a non-OPEC, ocean-safe source of hydrocarbon fuels and chemicals.
 
Gulf Oil, via it's P&M Mining subsidiary's accomplished Coal conversion scientist, Bruce Schmid, herein tells us how to get that Hydrogen, from Coal.

More US Gov & Gulf Oil 1974 CoalTL

 
We have been reporting periodically on the Coal liquefaction developments of Pittsburgh's old Gulf Oil Corporation, and their P&M Mining subsidiary, with much of their research having been done under contract to the US Office of Coal Research.
 
We regret that there appears to have been some, hopefully minimal, repetition; but, the sheer volume of Gulf's recorded work challenges our disabled capacities to organize and manage it all. And, we ask your patience as we proceed, to the best of our limited abilities, to wade through it in as orderly a fashion as is possible for us.
 
The disarray is compounded by the fact that Chevron, prior and subsequent to their acquisition of Gulf Oil,  worked on the development of their own Coal conversion technologies, and obtained even more CoalTL science in their similar merger with Texaco.

Coal to Liquid, Gas & Power

 
As preamble, we feel compelled to briefly emphasize the bona fides of the inventor named in this United States Patent, wherein is revealed - as we have, from other sources, earlier documented to be practical and feasible - a technology wherein Coal can, in a single integrated system, be made to produce both liquid and gaseous fuels, and, as a co-product, electrical power.
 
The inventor is one Shang-I Cheng, Professor Emeritus of Chemical Engineering at the very prestigious, but, outside more cloistered intellectual circles, not-so-publicly-well known, Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, in the Lower Manhattan borough of New York City. Cooper Union, as we learn from the Wikipedia: was "founded in 1859 (and) established a radical new model of American higher education. Its mission reflects Peter Cooper's fundamental belief that education of the highest quality should be as ""free as air and water"" and should be available to all who qualify, independent of race, religion, sex, or social status. For 150 years, the College has admitted students based on merit alone and provided each with a full-tuition scholarship. Cooper is considered to be one of the most prestigious schools in the nation, with all of its member schools ranked among the highest in the country."

Standard Oil 1931 Coal Conversion


Herein, we find even more evidence that the petroleum industry, and our own United States Government, have known for a very long time that Coal can be converted, one way or another, into liquid hydrocarbons.
 
As with other Coal conversion technologies that were developed on all sides, as we've reported, in the decade leading up to WWII, the technology disclosed herein would likely be uneconomical even in today's OPEC-influenced world.
 
In fashion similar to other Coal liquefaction processes from the same era, the complicated process described would likely demand much more energy input than the output could justify.