rolmops
Vice Admiral
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2002
- Messages
- 5,421
I listened to another "Science Friday" on NPR and there was this scientist who started his career in the seventies by researching the coal to oil conversion potential worked on at the time by Exxon and the US government.<br />He claims that corn ethanol together with hydraulic power and wind power will hardly make a dent in the energy needs of the USA.<br />He continues to say that the real energy future is locked in coal.The arrival of new catalists has radically shortened the conversion process from coal to methanol.Methanol is easily converted into propane and butane and anything made with oil today can be made with methanol.<br />The argument for ethanol is very simular since the two are so close together,but the scientist claims that the most economical and advantageous is clearly coal derived methanol,especially,and here comes the biggie.While producing methanol,CO2 is taken out of the atmosphere as part of the process.<br />Can this mean that although coal is clearly a carbon based product,it actually removes carbon from the atmosphere?<br />Anybody here please fill in some holes or debunk the theory.
