Rob Perks's Blog
Liquid Coal a Crude Substitue for Oil
October 24, 2008
Posted by Rob Perks in Curbing Pollution , Living Sustainably , Moving Beyond Oil
The coal industry has a dream -- that one day our cars and trucks will run on liquefied coal. They tout this as a way to free America from its addiction to oil -- 60% of which we export from foreign nations, many of which don't like us very much.
Ending our dependence on oil is a worthy goal. But replacing one fossil fuel with another is not the way to do it. Especially since liquid coal is a dirty fuel that would threaten our national security by worsening global warming.
In fact, a new study confirms that trying to achieve energy independence by replacing petroleum with coal for transportation would increase our country's carbon emissions, thereby exacerbating the climate crisis. Greenhouse gas emissions could DOUBLE if coal were to replace foreign oil, the researchers concluded.
As we work to move America beyond oil, we must guard against the reckless pursuit of unconventional alternative fuel sources that promise more pollution and more climate change. Certainly, liquid coal is one of the worst dirty fuels, along with tar sands from Canada and oil shale in the Rocky Mountain West.
Check out our movie to see why liquid coal is a crude substitute. And join NRDC in the effort to stop dirty fuels before they get started.
Now is the time to rally for an end to our nation's dangerous addiction to oil by investing in a new energy economy built on cleaner fuels, better cars, improved efficiency, and more livable communities.
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Comments
Steve — Oct 27 2008 09:09 AM
Liquid coal made with carbon sequestration can be as clean or cleaner than conventional oil fuels. Carbon sequestration has already been proven at Kinder Morgan in TX where over 1 billion cu ft of co2 is captured daily and pumped underground for permanent storage. We only have 50 years max left on the oil supply according to the DOE experts - less according to the worlds leading geophysicists. There will be 9 billion mouths to feed, and mass economic chaos will ensue long before that when the shortages hit. We need to exercise every available option to prolong the world’s survival. Ethanol can only supply 10%. Electric for everything is not feasible. Biodiesel is similar to ethanol. Both will add to food shortages. There is a 200 year coal supply that can take up the slack while sources like hydro phonic algae are developed. Liquid coal can be made with recycled water, and the land can be redeveloped into farms, forests, and lakes with minimal environmental damage – I have seen the photos of redeveloped coalmines.
Why the Price of Peak Oil is Famine
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/money/2008/02/07/cnoil107.xml
Brian @ NRDC — Oct 28 2008 01:02 PM
Steve,
I'm Brian Siu, an NRDC policy analyst working on our Move America Beyond Oil campaign.
I disagree with you on several levels. First, tailpipe emissions from liquid coal are similar to conventional petroleum based fuels. Thus sequestering all (many proposed incentives fall short of this) of the process emissions will produce a fuel with similar lifecycle emissions to today’s. That said, there is little doubt that even conventional fuels significantly contribute to climate change. We must decarbonize the fuel pool rather than deploy more fuels that are the same under an optimistic scenario and far worse under other assumptions.
Secondly, reclamation activities are not necessarily effective. In the Southeast, for instance, forested regions are often reclaimed as grasslands. These areas typically have a high level of soil compaction that reduces habitability for of native tree and plant species. These practices limit the overall health of the land and it is estimated that the return of natural forests can take hundreds of years.
Finally, it is unlikely that liquid coal will exclusively reduce U.S. energy prices. Like any other supply measure it will modestly temper the world oil price, thinly spreading the benefit across the global population. This contrasts sharply with energy efficiency. Energy efficiency benefits are concentrated with the user as lower fuel expenditures. It is simply a better investment without the environmental disadvantages. We do not need liquid coal for energy security. A firm commitment to clean fuels, efficient vehicles and well designed communities can advance energy security while avoiding the risks of shortsighted fuel technologies.