[hillsidedigger]

Can anyone imagine what the wolrd's landscape, atmosphere, surface waters and oceans would be like if all the coal was suddenly mined and burned (40 years is suddenly)? Is that what you want?

[graham]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('hillsidedigger', 'C')oal to oil would release much CO2 but it seems many do not realize that will lead us further down the road to major problems.

[dorlomin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '
')It's probably not coincidence that coal liquefication failed the Nazi and the racist South Africans. It is a horrible process that pollutes, just in a different way.

[dorlomin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'S')ure but the SA were fighting a guerrilla war, not against a modern army equipped with heavy equipment.

[rangerone314]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dorlomin', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '
')It's probably not coincidence that coal liquefication failed the Nazi and the racist South Africans. It is a horrible process that pollutes, just in a different way.

[nobodypanic]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dorlomin', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'S')ure but the SA were fighting a guerrilla war, not against a modern army equipped with heavy equipment.

[dorlomin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('nobodypanic', '
')that's an interesting view!

however, i think you're forgetting the panther tank, which wouldn't really fit your criteria. what's your take on that?

[Ferretlover]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/columnists/rmiller/stories/DN-miller_28bus.ART.State.Edition1.3cf764e.html
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')After a year of trying, University of Texas at Arlington researchers say they have succeeded in producing Texas intermediate-quality crude oil out of lignite.

In a few years, the researchers predict, their discovery could lead to oil that costs $35 a barrel instead of the current $65 to $70.

This could translate into a Lone Star bonanza. Texas sits on a 200-year supply of lignite that's easily accessible because it lies near the earth's surface. Lignite, one of the lowest and cheapest grades of coal, is now used to fuel steam-electric power generation.

[mos6507]

I fear even if we perfect this sort of technology we won't use it as a bridge. We'll just keep BAU going until peak coal and crash all the same. But the selfish part of me would prefer we have this in the quiver as a means to kick the can on die-off.

[AirlinePilot]

Two barrels of ol out of a ton of lignite. Hmmm. I wonder what the EROEI is on that?

Happy motoring here we come!

This is not new, its not any real breakthrough. Germans did it in WWII . Its called Fischer Tropsch and its a very dirty way to make oil. I suspect the cap and trade frenzy will cause huge costs to be associated with this form of oil production.

Dont call it a breakthrough though thats a complete mischaracterization of a very old process in concept.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')his is not new, its not any real breakthrough. Germans did it in WWII . Its called Fischer Tropsch and its a very dirty way to make oil. I suspect the cap and trade frenzy will cause huge costs to be associated with this form of oil production

[dinopello]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TheAntiDoomer', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')his is not new, its not any real breakthrough. Germans did it in WWII . Its called Fischer Tropsch and its a very dirty way to make oil. I suspect the cap and trade frenzy will cause huge costs to be associated with this form of oil production

[TheAntiDoomer]

Fair enough dino, we should have someone in the biz explain the difference, but clearly UT is claiming something far more advance than FT process. AP claim that this process is the same thing the nazi's used is false, and simply his way of trying to discredit it.

[TheAntiDoomer]

From the UT Arlington website:

http://www.uta.edu/ucomm/researchmagazi ... energy.php

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he Germans successfully converted coal to synthetic oil in World War II using the Fischer-Tropsch process, notes Krishnan Rajeshwar, associate dean of the College of Science and CREST co-director. But even with modern methods, Fischer-Tropsch is still expensive, which is why CREST continues to research an alternative fuel technology using microfluidics.

Drs. Rajeshwar and Billo are convinced that a microfluidic reactor can convert coal to synthetic oil at a fraction of the cost of the German technology. Billo says microrefineries built at a low cost can produce large amounts of synthetic oil in a fraction of the time of existing Fischer-Tropsch refining processes.

[Schmuto]

The people who pimp these false saviors are truly evil.

It's bad enough the sheeple are too ignorant to focus on the criticality of the oil situation for the necessary length of time. That's just corporate conditioning - "keep eating. Don't look up from the trough. Don't worry about that awful crying you hear. The recovery has begun. All will return to normal soon enough."

But when these vested interests pimp these false saviours to help ensure that the marginally curious don't think too hard, it's pure evil.

There is no hope in coal.

Coal will be the bookends of the fossil fuel age.

We came in dirty, and we're going to leave filthy.

[gnm]

Great news Auntie, now we can strip mine half the country to ensure that you have BAU for another 20 years. Gonna be tough to explain it to the grandkids though.

-G