coal-to-liquid fuel

Desperate times call for dirty energy

Turning coal into liquid fuel is a majorly polluting proposition. An Ohio town starved for jobs doesn’t care.

Air Force drops plans to build liquid coal plant

Perhaps somebody heard my plea to kill the Air Force liquid coal plant. McClatchy reports:

The Air Force rejected the plans for the coal-to-liquids plant because of possible conflicts with the 341 Missile Wing's nuclear mission. The release said the concerns included decreased security near the base's weapons storage area, interference with missile transportation and "explosive safety arcs and operational flight safety issues."

Not to mention that liquid coal is an environmental abomination with impossible economics used primarily by the desperate and isolated:

The main users and producers of fuel from coal have been South Africa and Nazi Germany.

Still you'll be delighted to know that the Air Force is already using the fuel of the Third Reich and apartheid:

Email of the day

This just hit my inbox, from Gary T. Strasburg, DAF Civ, Chief, Environmental Public Affairs, US Air Force:

After a thorough review of project requirements and information submitted by a team of functional experts, the Air Force has determined proposals received for a coal-to-liquid synthetic fuel plant on Malmstrom AFB, Mont., are not viable and will no longer pursue possible development of a plant at the installation.

Air Force to announce the fate of a synthetic fuel plant

President Barack Obama gave a powerful call to action on energy and climate, and he has given the order to halt Bush's final rules. But if he really wants to send a quick, strong signal that he intends to preserve a livable climate, he should intervene immediately to stop the Pentagon's toxic dalliance with liquid coal.

As reported by Air Force Times on Tuesday:

The future of a synthetic fuel plant that would power fighters and cargo planes with processed coal will be announced this week.

The Air Force decided on Friday whether to move ahead with a plan to build a synthetic fuel plant at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont.

Due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and the inauguration, Air Force spokesman Gary Strasburg said the decision will not be released until Wednesday.

(Note: I can't find any notice of this decision on Google News or Montana newspapers.)

UPDATE: My sources say the decision "has been delayed."

This is simply a terrible idea (see here), especially since clean alternatives are on the way "Boeing: Jet biofuel in three years").

Obama said in his powerful inaugural address: "we will work tirelessly to ... roll back the specter of a warming planet." That can't be done running your Air Force on liquid coal:

New report finds unconventional liquid fuels will boost CO2

The interwebs are abuzz over a new study from RAND Corp., which finds that unconventional liquid fuels like oils sands and liquid coal would dramatically increase greenhouse gas emissions relative to regular oil. In other news, the earth is round. It also found that Canadian tar sands are economically competitive given current (and expected) prices […]

Tribes gamble on coal, despite climate risks

“In every deliberation we must consider the impact on the seventh generation … even if it requires having skin as thick as the bark of a pine,” goes the Great Law of the Iroquois. If you embrace liquid coal, however, it is quite safe to say there is only one generation you are thinking of. […]

Air Force may abandon coal-to-liquids fuels program

Sure coal-to-liquid is a dead end — but dead ends never stopped the Pentagon before. Heck we now spend nearly $10 billion a year pursuing Star Wars weapons! But here comes the (potentially) amazing news from the Aug. 5 Defense Environment Alert ($ub. req’d): The departure of key Air Force officials is casting doubt on […]

W. Va. governor Manchin subsidizes his own state’s economic irrelevance with liquid coal subsidies

I’ve written before about the economic and environmental nightmare that is liquid coal. If I were a governor and an energy company proposed opening a liquid coal plant in my state, I would marshal every resource available to fight it off. You get a few dozen jobs in the short-term; in the long-term, you get […]

Kentucky to build new coal-to-liquids plant

The following post is by Earl Killian, guest blogger at Climate Progress.

Kentucky has selected a site to build a $4 billion coal-to-liquids plant in Pike County that would produce 50,000 barrels of liquid coal a day. According to Kentucky's Lexington Herald-Leader:

... The county would use federal and state grant money to put the basic infrastructure in place, including water and sewer, and the company chosen to operate the facility would pay for the rest.

County officials have not yet secured funding, but Ruther­ford said he has received support from Gov. Steve Beshear, as well as several others, including state Rep. Rocky Adkins, D-Sandy Hook.

Joe has written often about the climate dangers of coal-to-liquids, and recently about the health dangers of living near coal plants. There are also other consequences.

An Op-Ed in the Lexington Herald-Leader serves as a stark reminder that coal will never be clean. Robert Richardson, a former coal miner, writes passionately about the death of Kentucky's streams under the onslaught from mountain-top removal. On revisiting a favorite spot, he writes: