Dr. Frank Clemente
February 14, 2009Coal-to-Gas is Off-the-Shelf Energy Solution
The Question: “How can we obtain enough NG at affordable prices to (1) power over 400,000 MW of NG based generation capacity, (2) heat tens of millions of homes and buildings, (3) meet the needs of manufacturing and agriculture, and (4) make ethanol, fertilizer and other energy related products?The Answer: We can’t.
Enter substitute natural gas (SNG), the product of coal gasification, an established technology that has been around for a century and currently in use throughout the world. SNG facilities can now be made “carbon storage ready” to take advantage of emerging technologies in CO2 capture, leading the way to a virtually emission free use of coal. The captured CO2 can then be stored indefinitely or more productively, be utilized to recover “stranded” oil in depleted fields throughout the nation. Texas alone, for example, has over 35 billion barrels of potentially recoverable oil using CO2 injection.
In addition, SNG technology:
- Produces pipeline quality NG equivalents that can be used to fuel power plants, heat homes and manufacture a wide range of goods.
- Removes 95% of the mercury and virtually 100% of the sulfur. Further, the captured sulfur can be used to make fertilizer and the ash from combustion of coal can be used to make roads and related infrastructure.
- Provides fuel for the hundreds of NG dependent power plants we imprudently built over the past decade based on erroneous predictions of NG price and production. In short, prices have escalated and production has stagnated leaving many NG power plants too expensive to operate.
- Boost the economy of local communities and provide well paying jobs. A planned SNG state-of-the-art facility in Kentucky, for example, will create 1,200 construction jobs for four years, 500 permanent jobs and pump over $100 million into the economy of host Muhlenberg County and surrounding communities.
