Tuesday, May 31, 2005

"Clean Coal" for the military?

The Montana Standard - Butte, Montana USA

30,000 barrels of oil a day? This article didn't quote how much oil could be produced from this guy's plan. 30,000 barrels of oil is hardly a dent in the rate of consumption. Doesn't the U.S. consume about 21-24 million a day? Of course, this is for the military, and the taxpayer will probably be paying a pretty penny for the production of this "clean" technology. It will still produce greenhouse gases, too, although not as much as burning the coal in its more primitive form. Sounds like it would create some jobs, though. Looks like we'll be using up all of our coal someday, too. It's inevitable. I wonder what the ERoEI is on this. Might be pretty expensive.

Exerpt:

"In an interview with the Lee Montana Newspapers State Bureau last week, Schweitzer said he met with Pentagon officials earlier this month in Washington, D.C., to discuss a military plan to promote the private production of various petroleum fuels by using clean-coal technologies. The idea, they said, is to make U.S. armed forces less dependent on foreign oil."



"Some may scoff at such big thinking, but it makes a lot of sense. After all, production of U.S. oil deposits peaked 35 years ago, and many experts predict worldwide production will hit its peak within the next five years.

As oil production slows, prices will soar, finally spurring an all-out effort to convert to renewable energy sources. But until that process is complete, oil will become a truly precious commodity — justifying investment in ‘‘clean coal'' liquefaction technology as well as others, such as getting oil from tar sands."




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