Oil from Coal

I'm of the opinion that this is the way we should be going to free ourselves from dependence on foreign oil. A nice writeup at the New York Times:

$100 Oil = Liquid Coal = ?
The notion of turning coal into liquid fuels on a big scale has simmered for decades, but only the trade sanctions against apartheid in South Africa resulted in anyone reviving the Nazi-era technology � until now.

David Adam of The Guardian reported over the weekend on the first international conference on �coal to liquids,� in Paris, at which a host of officials from around the world excitedly described a host of new coal-to-liquids initiatives aimed at securing flows of transportation fuel in a world facing high oil prices for a long time to come.

Environmental groups are horrified at the prospect, which could easily overwhelm efforts to cut energy waste in buildings, vehicles, and the like (and resulting carbon dioxide emissions).

The article also links to this NYT article:

Search for New Oil Sources Leads to Processed Coal
The coal in the ground in Illinois alone has more energy than all the oil in Saudi Arabia. The technology to turn that coal into fuel for cars, homes and factories is proven. And at current prices, that process could be at the vanguard of a big, new industry.

Such promise has attracted entrepreneurs and government officials, including the Secretary of Energy, who want domestic substitutes for foreign oil.

But there is a big catch. Producing fuels from coal generates far more carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming, than producing vehicle fuel from oil or using ordinary natural gas. And the projects now moving forward have no incentive to capture carbon dioxide beyond the limited amount that they can sell for industrial use.

Here in East Dubuque, Rentech Inc., a research-and-development company based in Denver, recently bought a plant that has been turning natural gas into fertilizer for forty years. Rentech sees a clear opportunity to do something different because natural gas prices have risen so high. In an important test case for those in the industry, it will take a plunge and revive a technology that exploits America's cheap, abundant coal and converts it to expensive truck fuel.

Good news! Of course, the enviros are complaining about CO2 emissions but this is not a concern - water vapor is by far the worse of the greenhouse gas. Use nuclear for electrical power generation and coil for fuel. Oil then becomes a non-issue for us.