EcoGeek Hates Liquid Coal
Over at EcoGeek, Hank Green has a response to the recent MSNBC/Newsweek article about liquefied coal. Coal-to-liquid fuel is very controversial topic because the United States has huge quantities of coal in the ground, and it's relatively cheap to extract, at least compared to most other options. The problem is that coal, like petroleum, is a fossil fuel, which means that burning it (or a derivative) releases huge amounts of carbon into the atmosphere that would otherwise remain locked up tight in the earth. There is also the issue of the damage caused by some mining practices. Aside from being able to supply energy domestically, coal-to-liquid doesn't appear to offer any environmental benefits. Go check out what Hank has to say at the Read link.
[Source: EcoGeek]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Eminem Sucks 7:44PM (12/28/2006)
If it's a short-term way of making the country energy-independent, go for it until a cleaner alternative comes. As I always say: NUCLEAR POWER!!
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Scatter 8:58AM (12/29/2006)
Nuclear powered cars? hmmmmm
Energy independence is irrelevent compared to climate change. Going down this path will well and truly screw everything. Has anyone tried to calculate the well-to-wheel emissions for CTL?
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yes_i_am_an_american 6:04PM (12/29/2006)
I'm with #2. Perhaps #1 does not realize that we get the vast majority of our oil from our friends in Canada? Regardless of where it comes from we need to stop using Oil and Coal and Nuclear for that matter.
What we need to do is use energy in as natural a form as possible. That in my opinion equates to Wind and Solar.
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Andy 1:02AM (12/30/2006)
I believe #1 was referring to energy use in home service. That seemed pretty obvious.
#3: you need to locate proper info. The majority of US oil DOES NOT come from Canada. Canada is the largest source of IMPORTED oil for the US, but a majority does not come from Canada. The majority of oil the US uses is IMPORTED.
As for liquid coal...yuck.
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obewan 10:11AM (6/01/2007)
The best plans for liquid coal advocate the use of nuclear power at the refinery. If that is accomplished, liquid coal would be an abundant and clean energy supply. We only have a 30 year oil supply and there are 9 billion people to feed. We cannot afford to turn down our best options for the continuation of life on this planet.
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