Emerging Fuels Technology - Tulsa, OK

 

 
We hope the link opens for you, the site won't allow us to excerpt passages directly.
 
You should check 'em out and give 'em a call if you're still interested in researching coal-to-liquid fuel technologies.
 
The several principals at this company have, if the accounts are accurate, quite significant, multi-decade experience in coal-to-liquids technology, including work on Fischer-Tropsch CTL with Exxon and Phillips, among others.
 

Vindy.com Local News Youngstown, Warren, Columbiana Ohio - News, Sports & Information - Last OK Awaited for Loan to Buy Land

 

"SALEM — The Columbiana County Port Authority has cleared another step in its plan to buy land for a facility that would turn coal into liquid fuel.

A $4.5 million loan has been approved by the state Development Financing Advisory Council with the support of Gov. Ted Strickland and local legislators."

Why not, Mike, WV - especially when WV's US Senators Randolph and Byrd, waaaay back in the day (remember, ole Jen was puttering about WV's skies in a coal-powered airplane in the 1940's) got the Synthetic Fuels legislation kick-started?

 

Consol's Top Coal-to-Gasoline Executive Retires


 
With apologies for formatting errors in the following, attached, story from Charleston..
 
Note, in the story, that Consol's interest in coal-to-gasoline remains "undiminished". But, they need/want a new technical/financial partner since SES has elected to withdraw.
 
There are other players.
 
First of all, Conoco-Phillips is developing CTL projects overseas. Maybe they could be persuaded to join the effort.
 
Exxon-Mobil have their MTG technology (methanol to gasoline), and are also active overseas.
 
Now, SASOL is an overseas company with the longest commercial experience in converting coal to gasoline. Simply put, they are "doing it" and have been "doing it", with success, for decades.
 
They are successful, and they have the wherewithal.
 
They have established a US subsidiary, for whom I provided you contact info.
 
If you haven't called them yet, on the behalf of all West Virginians, perhaps you should all get together and make a pilgrimage to their HQ in Houston.
 
And, in case you missed the point - Consol HAS, or HAD, a top Coal-to-Gasoline Executive. They must think this is pretty real. Maybe you should track the guy down and interview him. You might get some insight.
 
This stuff is real. The fact that the reality hasn't yet been manifested in WV is a shame.
 
Joe the Miner
 

Consol's top coal-to-gasoline executive retires

Charleston Daily Mail - Tuesday, January 27, 2009

CHARLESTON, W.Va.--The Consol Energy executive who headed the company's effort to build a coal-to-gasoline plant in Marshall County has retired but Consol's interest in the project "remains undiminished," said company spokesman Thomas Hoffman.

Paul Spurgeon retired effective last week. "It doesn't mean anything for the project," Hoffman said. "We are still interested in pursuing some sort of a conversion project in the Ohio Valley."

Consol's technology partner in the $800 million project, Synthesis Energy Systems Inc., dropped out in October. When Consol and SES announced the project in July, oil was trading at more than $100 a barrel. The price has declined dramatically since then. The economy also has slowed. When SES dropped out, it said it was doing so "due to the difficult financial environment."

Hoffman said on Monday, "You remember when we said that the SES partnership had been dissolved that we needed to find another technology partner. We are still discussing that with people. We're continuing to do evaluations and would very much like to develop an alternative market for our coal.

"With our economy being the way it is, I don't know that I'm particularly clairvoyant about when that project will be done but our interest remains undiminished," he said.

Spurgeon said last month that his company was still optimistic it would build a coal-to-liquids plant in the Northern Panhandle. He said Consol was still "fully committed" to the project. He estimated that the project has been delayed by four to six months because SES had dropped out.

Hoffman is not sure who will become Consol's lead coal-to-liquids executive. He said the company is "still discussing our second-tier organizational changes that are needed as a result of the changes we announced last week. In terms of who's going to head up specific projects, those are things that will probably be decided in coming weeks."

Consol did not announce Spurgeon's retirement. "There were a number of changes in the organization," Hoffman said. "We only announced externally the senior-level people."

The company did announce last Tuesday the consolidation of the management of Consol Energy and its majority-owned subsidiary CNX Gas Corp. under Consol CEO Brett Harvey.

Consol also announced the retirement of Peter Lilly, president of the company's coal business.

While at Consol, Lilly successfully negotiated a new contract between the Bituminous Coal Operators Association and the UMWA; completed the integration of the former AMVEST mining operations into Consol; and served as Consol's representative on the boards of directors of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Waterways Council Inc. and the World Coal Institute.

Lilly, 60, is a native of Beckley. He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and has a master's degree in business administration from Harvard University. He joined Consol in 2002. He had been president and CEO of Triton Coal Co. and Vulcan Coal Holdings.  Before that he held senior management positions with Peabody Holding Company Inc., now Peabody Energy.

World CTL Conference Reminder


See the following attachment.
 
(With apologies to our other correspondents, who are already aware of this.)
 
We alerted you, if you recall, to last year's CTL Conference, as well. Melissa and I would have loved to go - she's never seen the cherry blossoms.
 
It seems unlikely we'll be able to attend this year, either. But, we make the supposition you, or some reporter on your staff, could, and should, go on Ogden's dime.
 
You just might be able to meet, face-to-face, some of the people we've been urging you to call.
 
The technology is real, and the people, of WV especially, have a right to know it.
 
We're certain the good people at the Coal-To-Liquids Coalition, or at the WV Coal Association, would be eager to provide you with additional info.
 
Joe the Miner
 

SUBJECT:

World CTL Conference Reminder

 

 

 

The purpose of this memorandum is to draw your attention to the forthcoming World CTL Conference scheduled for March 25-27 in Washington, D.C. Those interested in attending the conference are encouraged to register as soon as possible.

 

The conference will begin on March 25 with two parallel workshops focused on practical issues surrounding project development, with two days of plenary sessions following on March 26-27. The plenary sessions will feature presentations and discussions from leading coal, oil and technology leaders. West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin (D) and Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D) are among the distinguished roster of presenters for the plenary sessions.

 

More information, including registration details is available at: World CTL Conference.

In addition, you might also be interested in the Ninth World XTL Summit, scheduled for May 11-13 in London, England. The summit's program features presentations by leading international public and private representatives focused on the role coal and biomass based fuels can play in meeting future global energy needs. A copy of the program is attached.

If you have any questions, please contact me at (202) 463-2621 or chenry@nma.org.

 

Enclosure

 

Rare Carbon Dioxide "Lake" Found Under the Ocean, Scientists Report

 

 
We're not suggesting that CO2 generated by burning coal, or, more importantly now, by the processes of converting coal into liquid fuel, isn't, or shouldn't be, a concern.
 
We think, though, there are useful/profitable ways to actually capture and use that CO2, and we should pursue those avenues.
 
However, we shouldn't overly demonize, or fear, CO2, either. It is a naturally occurring substance - and, it occurs in abundance.
 
The CO2 "lake" reported by National Geographic herein might not be all that rare - the profoundly deep and volcanically active continental rift trenches in the oceanic abyss could harbor many of them. The rifts are foci of volcanic activity and the water pressure is more than sufficient there to confine the CO2 and keep it from rapidly fizzing up to the surface. But - guaranteed - at that pressure, the CO2 is dissolving into the water and slowly diffusing away - ultimately making it's way to the surface.
 
This particular CO2 lake was found only because peculiar circumstances allowed it to form, and be confined, at a relatively shallow depth.
 
It's similar, in some respects, to the "river" of liquid CO2 reported near some undersea Icelandic volcanoes - which we're still attempting to verify.
 
In any case, CO2 effluent from either coal-fired power plants, or coal-to-liquid factories, would be a drop in the bucket - to use a trite phrase - compared to natural sources like this. 
 
When we see such phenomena, we have to conclude that CO2 geochemistry and meteorology is not really understood. We shouldn't just sit around on our hands - with CoalTL, especially - just because we're afraid of the dark.