The Nazi/apartheid history of the Fischer-Tropsch coal-to-gas process
I don't like the wording in Slate's headline for this great story on the Fischer-Tropsch coal-to-liquid process (is it really "one of the world's most exciting new fuel sources"? Is it really even new if it was developed in the 1920s?), but I still encourage you to read the story. The world is a complicated place, and Daniel Gross' investigation of how Fischer-Tropsch moved from Nazi synthfuel to the fuel of choice for South Africa's state run energy company emphasizes this. The company, Sasol, is now privatized and has expanded to Qatar and is eyeing the United States. But history comes with it. Aside from the Nazi and apartheid legacy of Fischer-Tropsch, Sasol has had problems with worker deaths in the past. I've never seen how coal-to-liquid is all that great, and this article just turns me off of the process even further. Your thoughts?
Related:
[Source: Daniel Gross/Slate via Metafilter]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Glenn 8:47AM (10/26/2006)
Well, where do I start?!
First, Fischer-Tropsch was nabbed from the Nazis as a process by the United States as war reparations, and was the sold on to interested parties including South Africa, which was the only nation intelligent enough to use it on a large scale basis and the only one to do so to date.
Second, South Africa has not been an aparthied state for over a decade now, and is now part of the larger international scene, yet still uses F-T coal-to-gas.
We COULD HAVE started using this process after 1973 when the arabs turned off the (oil) tap but we clearly were not SMART enough to do so, and retain complete energy independence.
We have sufficient coal within the confines of the lower 48 states to last for several hundred years, were this process to be utilized.
Although at this point, it is becoming clear that as a world, we need to stop pulling old carbon out of the ground and instead invest in recycling carbon - like making oil from garbage offal and sewage. But history is repeating itself - the process, invented in the USA and only thus far used in one plant (next to a Butterball turkey processing facility in Carthage, Missouri) is not catching on here, but the smarter nations of the world are licencing the processs. Like, the Republic of Ireland, which finally has the highest standard of living per capita in the EU (and higher than the US), and plans to use this process in future, I understand.
Go to www.changingworldtech.com for a real eye-opener.
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Schneegz 9:39AM (10/26/2006)
Who cares if this process was invented in Nazi Germany? Let's look at a few things Americans use every day that were invented in, or have their roots in, Nazi Germany.
Volks Wagen was Hitler's idea.
So was the Autobahn, and the US interstate system was inspired by the Autobahn.
Mercedes Benz, BMW, Auto Union (now Audi), Krupps and Bosch (among many others) manufactured weapons for the Nazis and used slave labor to do so. Some of those slaves were captured Jewish American GIs.
Should we not use any of those products? While we're at it, should we also refuse to buy Mitsubishis, Subarus and Fuji cameras?
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Richard 1:02PM (10/26/2006)
See www.greatpointenergy.com for another approach.
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