Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Coal - It's Out There
There's plenty of it, and new technology looks to make it VERY useful...
I found this posted at GlobalPetroleumClub.com:
"Canada has more energy in its 'proven, recoverable' reserves of coal than it has in all of its oil, natural gas and oil sands combined: 10 billion tonnes. The world has 100 times more: one trillion tonnes. These reserves hold the energy equivalent of more than four trillion barrels of oil. They are scattered in 70 countries, mostly in relatively easy-to-mine locations and mostly in democratic countries.
The United States alone has 30 per cent of the world's reserves, and scientists in Texas say they have found a way to convert coal into gasoline at a cost of less than $30 (U.S.) a barrel - with zero release of pollutants.
Researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) announced last month that they have developed a clean way to turn the cheapest kind of coal - lignite, common in Texas - into synthetic crude. 'We go from that [lignite coal] to this really nice liquid,' Brian Dennis, a member of the research team, said in describing the synthetic crude that can be refined into gasoline."