Coal = Oil? Possible Fuel Solution.

[Thespis]

In case you're steering clear of the political thread I posted, this is a pretty cool possibility in the works that may help gas prices come back down. The rising oil costs have really been hurting a lot of industries.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050825/pl_nm/energy_montana_dc

[Deadhead]

Its an interesting prospect, but if U.S. citizens/car companies purchased/built more fuel efficent cars we wouldnt have these problems.

Besides, Gas isnt nearly as high as some people like to say. The prices of gas in the past have been much higher (if you convert the cost then into todays dollars).

[Myrsilus]

That certaintly sounds promising. There is plenty of coal for a while, as it was stated. It could bring some of the economic dependence off of oil from the Middle East.

This is only a good temporary alternative, though. Coal will run out just like oil will as both are fossil fuels. If coal becomes a new source of gasoline, then there should still be continuous efforts to develop a more clean, dependable source of energy.

What is the process they use to make the coal into gasoline? It didn't really say anything about that. It said the production would not damage the environment, but I'm still worried about harmful emissions.

Factor in as well that working with coal (mining and burning) can lead to people being exposed to benzene, which can become extremely dangerous under heavy exposure.

[Deadhead]

Yeah, forgot to bring that up. Coal isnt exactly the cleanest energy source, and we should look into the environmental effects before jumping on this.

[Marblehead]

Its an interesting prospect, but if U.S. citizens/car companies purchased/built more fuel efficent cars we wouldnt have these problems.

Besides, Gas isnt nearly as high as some people like to say. The prices of gas in the past have been much higher (if you convert the cost then into todays dollars).

Try this-

http://www1.jsc.nasa.gov/bu2/inflateCPI.html

[Thespis]

It's called the Fischer-Tropsch method. Not sure of the process involved, but I imagine it wouldn't be too difficult to find out. I'm sure the environmental issues will be considered. It isn't like they're burning the coal for energy, they're converting the coal into oil. Gas prices are still ridiculous by recent standards, regardless of past comparisons. A year ago it was a dollar per gallon cheaper, and that seemed high.

[Myrsilus]

http://www.cecarf.org/Programs/Fuels/Fuelfacts/Alternativefuels.html

Go down a bit and it talks about what the method basically is. Seems to be a relatively clean process, but it still produces some amount of harmful emission. Even so, they aren't extremely harmful.

[Deadhead]

Europe can deal with higher gas prices that this, Americans need to learn to deal.

Maybe this is a good thing, car companies will be pushed to be more fuel efficent.

[scan2001]

There is other soures of fuel that they are creating like ethanol and using hydrogen.

[akitaka]

Heh...that's kind of what I was thinking. The recent rush of hybrids do tell that it's becoming more and more true. Here in AZ I've never seen a pump use the Fischer-Tropsch fuel method; only ethanol. Prices are wicked considering that our state gets to be 100+ degrees, so you can imagine the volume you're getting of gas/price. This is why I prefer to fill at night...but it only does so much.

I'm sure that this coal swap will help some, but a better source is best found asap; personally if buildings were built better to let people walk/run/bike to, we'de be killing two birds with one stone.
I've noticed that the U.S. is pretty dependant on vehicles just because of the way cities are constructed; in fact, I remember an architect who's name I cannot recall. He wanted cities to be built in the walk-accessible fashion, yet was seriously opposed by mainstream architects for being "unrealistic". If I can find his name I'll post it...his designs were nothing short of efficient, I think. And pretty.

[Deadhead]

Yeah, the U.S. has the shittiest city planning.

Hell, alot of the conservative states dont even have city planning (Houston comes to mind).
When they do things like that, no wonder we are so dependant on cars.

[akitaka]

Los Angeles' highway planning really jerks my chain. It's easy to break a law just by dodging cars that don't understand "following distance", since everyone is trying to exit at the same time. Gas is the next thing to come to mind after you've idled for an hour commuting.

This is probably why I like Japan's city planning to an extent, though the whole registered bike thing makes me uneasy. The best laid-out city I've been to would have to be where I went to in Scotland..but I cannot remember what the name was; it was on a student ambassador trip.