what do you think about turning coal into gas we could be off foreign oil in 10 years?

Question

heard it on glenn beck radio show

Answer 1

A better solution is hydroelectric power. We could create cheap, efficient power and sell it to the world. I would be more convenient for smaller countries to buy it from us and perhaps the lowered demand and the increase of income to these smaller countries could drive down the cost of oil and many other things.

Answer 2

America is the Saudi Arabia of coal.

It has been estimated there is enough coal sitting underground, to run our economy for the next 500 years. The problem isn't coal - it's the environment.

I don't have a problem with using coal, but we need to do it in a way that does not cause acid rain. And acid rain isn't something to just blow off either. It's not just any acid - it's battery acid. And if you look at some of those pictures from the 19th Century, it's not a pretty sight. Soot from coal covered everything. That kind of thing wouldn't be tolerated today.

But you really don't need coal to make synthetic gasoline.

ANY carbon based substance will do. There are people making gasoline out of chicken poop. You can put ANY carbon based substance into a high temperature - high pressure - vessel - and in a few hours it turns into oil. You can even separate the gasoline from the oil by fractional distillation - just like you would with oil that comes out of the ground.

Coal is one possible answer . . .

But did you know that America has the biggest oil deposits in the world? Even bigger than Saudi Arabia? It's called shale oil. It's a little harder to refine than oil that simply gushes out of the ground. It has to be extracted from shale rock. But the technology exists. None of it is pie in the sky or anything. It's just too expensive to do right now.

But if the price of oil were to climb high enough?

Watch out! America doesn't just have more oil than the Saudis - it has more oil than all of the other world oil deposits combined. It's just sitting there - locked inside the shale - waiting to be extracted. Most of the deposits are in Colorado and Wyoming.

Answer 3

you are talking about developing the coal bed methane gas. This is happening right now all across the US with many companies exploring and producing. I think it is exciting, innovative, economical, and TOGETHER with the other alternative methods of producing hydrocarbons plus the traditional methods (including exploration of the massive reserves in Alaska) the US could very well be independent of the Middle East by the middle of this Century for sure.

Answer 4

We have enough coal to provide for fuel for at least 50 years. ( Some say 100 years)
See http://money.canoe.ca/News/Other/2006/08/16/1758825-cp.html

There are several successful coal gasifications project in the works

Answer 5

We already use huge amounts of coal in other processes, generating electricity for one. I think there are other alternative options which are more effective, without the huge investment in conversion plants. Shale oil for one, wind and solar power for others. Ethanol supports Brazil, why not the US?

Answer 6

Who is we? The USA? UK? Canada?

Anyhow, the USA has an estimated 300 years of coal to be mined, based on the current rate of usage.

Do we need more underground tunnels faster, for our neighborhoods and roads to cave in?

Answer 7

Might work. However, we'de better see what the side effects of the process is before we start.

Want to bet that the "Green" forces will object and delay the process for years?

Answer 8

Pity, there's only several hundred year's worth too (:>)

I'll paraphrase what AB Robinson said on this: We'll see how the Chinese deal with jets being rammed into their skyscrapers as thanks for trading with the Arabs. Given the history of Chinese war, we can only imagine the outcome.

Answer 9

This is not an unlimited resource. We will run out of coal in a couple if years if this happens.

Answer 10

i heard 25 years ago the oil company won't do ir