The Oil Drum: XTL’s Promise and Peril

I have stated on several occasions that I believe global warming is a greater immediate threat than Peak Oil. As long as the demand is there, energy companies will strive to supply fuel to the marketplace. To meet the demand, we will develop tar sands, even though doing so will consume enormous quantities of natural gas. We will turn natural gas and coal indirectly (and inefficiently) into ethanol. Finally, we will turn vast quantities of carbon sources into fuel via what I term “XTL” technologies. XTL technologies consist of a partial oxidation (POX) reaction followed by the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) reaction. When the POX feedstock is natural gas, this is referred to as a gas-to-liquids (GTL) process. If the feedstock is coal or biomass, this is referred to as CTL, or BTL respectively.
Much more after the jump to The Oil Drum.