Another issue which the liquid coal supporters put a spin on is the cost of large scale liquid coal production. The supporters look to our government in the form of coal-state senators to fund liquid coal since they say it will jump start the programs to help us benefit sooner. But if liquid coal is not yet profitable enough to be feasible, how can we be sure that it would become profitable in the future? It seems that if they envision this form of energy becoming the next major way of powering America’s cars that it should be able to generate a profit without outside help.
As politicians are starting to step up to reduce emissions by 60 to 80 percent from 1990 levels, liquid coal technology operates in the opposite direction. Currently each gallon of liquid gasoline produces 27 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, but liquid coal would produce 50 pounds of emissions, almost double. This is because changing coal into a liquid takes significantly more energy than refining gasoline from crude oil.
Liquid coal - Sustainability and Solutions
