Interesting and promising project. Not poo pooing this idea by any means. How much energy is lost to convert coal to a “cleaner form” of energy. I hope it isn’t like ethanol production….. As most everyone is aware coal can be used very cleanly to heat water and make steam to produce electricity. We should be using it everyday! It’s one of the greatest forms of energy security we have.
Watching the webinar right now. It's definitely not like ethanol production. One of the byproducts during processing is hydrogen, which is used to feed energy back into the process, making it very efficient, if I understand it correctly.
"How much energy is lost to convert coal to a “cleaner form” of energy?"
Good question, Dave. I don't know enough yet, so I'll watch the webinar tomorrow - they'll have a Q&A period, and I'll ask. My impression is that there is a good net energy outcome, because they say the procedure is profitable. A big problem with ethanol is the acreage and energy used to grow corn, and at the same time losing its value as food. Not so with coal!
Wyoming. The largest producer of coal in the nation.
We get lump coal and use it in our wood and coal stove. We have an open floorplan, so it heats the house pretty well. We have a propane furnace as backup or when it has mostly burnt out early in the morning.
1/17, noon - During the webinar just now, the CEO specifically answered my questions. I asked 1) Q)"It takes more energy to produce Hydrogen than what you can get out of it. Can you produce these products from coal without using more energy than what can be gotten out of it? In other words, are you sure this will be profitable, with no subsidies
A) Natural gas is used to start the process. After getting up to temp, the consumption of nat gas drops almost to zero - likewise with emissions, so this process is very clean. The refining process uses part of the energy from coal itself to keep going, so almost no external energy is needed. No subsidies needed!
Q 2) I asked "Do you expect to be able to build plants on some of the same sites that were previously used as coal power plants?"
A) Yes, the RR tracks and equipment for loading and handling coal are already in place, so this will increase efficiency and profits.
In other comments, it was said coal is the most abundant energy resource globally, and this technology could be as revolutionary as Rockefeller's learning how to refine oil.
Interesting and promising project. Not poo pooing this idea by any means. How much energy is lost to convert coal to a “cleaner form” of energy. I hope it isn’t like ethanol production….. As most everyone is aware coal can be used very cleanly to heat water and make steam to produce electricity. We should be using it everyday! It’s one of the greatest forms of energy security we have.
Watching the webinar right now. It's definitely not like ethanol production. One of the byproducts during processing is hydrogen, which is used to feed energy back into the process, making it very efficient, if I understand it correctly.
"How much energy is lost to convert coal to a “cleaner form” of energy?"
Good question, Dave. I don't know enough yet, so I'll watch the webinar tomorrow - they'll have a Q&A period, and I'll ask. My impression is that there is a good net energy outcome, because they say the procedure is profitable. A big problem with ethanol is the acreage and energy used to grow corn, and at the same time losing its value as food. Not so with coal!
It is a little more work, but it is a lot cheaper than trucked in propane and more reliable than electric heat.
What area do live and was it hard to find a contractor for a coal furnace and a source for coal?
Wyoming. The largest producer of coal in the nation.
We get lump coal and use it in our wood and coal stove. We have an open floorplan, so it heats the house pretty well. We have a propane furnace as backup or when it has mostly burnt out early in the morning.
I'm heating my house with coal right now.
Really? That's great. We had a coal furnace when I was growing up.
Sounds interesting.
1/17, noon - During the webinar just now, the CEO specifically answered my questions. I asked 1) Q)"It takes more energy to produce Hydrogen than what you can get out of it. Can you produce these products from coal without using more energy than what can be gotten out of it? In other words, are you sure this will be profitable, with no subsidies
A) Natural gas is used to start the process. After getting up to temp, the consumption of nat gas drops almost to zero - likewise with emissions, so this process is very clean. The refining process uses part of the energy from coal itself to keep going, so almost no external energy is needed. No subsidies needed!
Q 2) I asked "Do you expect to be able to build plants on some of the same sites that were previously used as coal power plants?"
A) Yes, the RR tracks and equipment for loading and handling coal are already in place, so this will increase efficiency and profits.
In other comments, it was said coal is the most abundant energy resource globally, and this technology could be as revolutionary as Rockefeller's learning how to refine oil.
I'll add more comments from the webinar later.